The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion with a federal district court to terminate early the September 2022 consent order with Lakeland Bank (Lakeland) that settled allegations of redlining under the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The motion also seeks the dismissal with prejudice of the case that the DOJ brought that resulted in that consent order.
By its terms, the consent order was scheduled to end in September 2027, unless Lakeland had not fully invested the loan subsidy fund provided for in the consent order, in which case it would have continued until three months after Lakeland fulfilled that obligation and submitted a confirming report to the DOJ.
Supporting the request for the early termination, the unopposed motion provides "that Lakeland Bank has demonstrated a commitment to remediation and has reached substantial compliance with the monetary and injunctive terms of the Consent Order. Lakeland has also committed to continuing its disbursement of the loan subsidy fund and to provide the United States confirmation of that disbursement upon completion." (Citations omitted.)
The motion also indicates that the DOJ conferred with Lakeland, and that Lakeland did not oppose the motion.
Note, this differs from the recent early termination of the consent order with the DOJ, CFPB and Trustmark Bank, as Trustmark had fully disbursed the $3.85 million loan subsidiary fund provided for in its consent order, whereas Lakeland has not fully disbursed the $12.0 million loan subsidy fund provided for in its consent order.
Various consumer groups have filed appearances apparently seeking to challenge the motion for early termination, and it appears that the court will consider the motion on July 7, 2025.
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