New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank pays US redline allegations by Reuters

(Reuters) – New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank will invest at least $14 million in a loan subsidy fund to settle a U.S. government lawsuit accusing it of illegal “redlining.”

A proposed settlement with the Toms River unit of OceanFirst Financial was filed Wednesday in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey.

The US Department of Justice said that between 2018 and 2022, OceanFirst discouraged borrowers from obtaining home loans and other services in majority black, Hispanic and Asian neighborhoods in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties while serving the needs of borrowers in majority areas white. .