U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. OceanFirst Bank (D.N.J.)
On October 1, 2024, the court entered a consent order in United States v. OceanFirst Bank (D.N.J.). The complaint, which was filed on September 18, 2024, alleged that OceanFirst violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by redlining majority-Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods in Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean counties in New Jersey. Specifically, the complaint alleged that OceanFirst disproportionately focused its outreach and advertising on majority-white communities, placed its branches in majority-white neighborhoods, and closed its only branches in majority-Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods in those counties. The consent order requires OceanFirst to invest at least $14 million in a loan subsidy fund to increase access to home mortgage, home improvement, and home refinance loans for residents of these majority-Black, Hispanic, and Asian communities. Additionally, in these same neighborhoods, OceanFirst will spend at least $700,000 on advertising, outreach, and consumer financial education and counseling; and will spend at least $400,000 to develop community partnerships to provide services that increase access to residential mortgage credit. OceanFirst will open a loan production office and maintain its recently opened full-service branch in majority-Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods and will staff those locations with at least two loan officers dedicated to serving these neighborhoods. OceanFirst will also complete a community credit needs assessment, assess and report on its fair lending program, and train staff on the bank’s obligations under ECOA, the FHA, and the consent order.