• Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Your neighborhood. Your News.

newsMilwaukee NNSMilwaukee NNSSearch
Subscribe to NNS today!
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • Arts and Recreation
    • Community
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Health and Wellness
    • Housing
    • Public Safety
    • NNS Spotlight
    • Special Report
  • Posts From Community
    • Submit a Story
  • Community Voices
  • How To
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Local Video
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect
    • NNS WGLB 1560 Radio
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • News 414
    • The neighborhoods we cover
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Diederich College of Communication, Marquette University

You are here: Home / Home / Carousel / Milwaukee evidence added to complaint against U.S. Bank

Milwaukee evidence added to complaint against U.S. Bank

October 16, 2013 by Brendan O’Brien Leave a Comment

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Boarded-up houses drag down property values in Milwaukee neighborhoods. (Photo by Scottie Lee Meyers)

Boarded-up houses drag down property values in Milwaukee neighborhoods. (Photo by Scottie Lee Meyers)

An evaluation of about three dozen foreclosed houses in Milwaukee has been added to the ongoing federal complaint against U.S. Bank. The complaint accuses the bank of discrimination based on how it allegedly maintains and markets foreclosed homes.

The complaint, filed in April 2012 by the National Fair Housing Alliance, now includes evidence from Milwaukee. It alleges that the bank maintains and markets foreclosed houses in white neighborhoods “in a far superior manner” than it does in African-American and Latino neighborhoods.

Filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the complaint claims the bank is violating the federal Fair Housing Act.

“U.S. Bank’s actions have significant financial and health impacts on local governments, schools, neighborhoods and homeowners who live near these neglected properties,” said Shanna Smith, the president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance, during a web presentation announcing the amended complaint.

Foreclosed houses that are not properly maintained are not just an eyesore, but also attract crime. (Photo by Scottie Lee Meyers)

Foreclosed houses that are not properly maintained are not just an eyesore, but also attract crime. (Photo by Scottie Lee Meyers)

The broadening of the case was based on a Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council evaluation of 34 U.S. Bank properties in Milwaukee, 17 of which are in African-American neighborhoods, seven in Latino neighborhoods and one in a majority non-white neighborhood. The rest of the evaluated homes are in white neighborhoods.

More than half of U.S. Bank’s properties in neighborhoods of color had at least five deficiencies, which is twice as frequent than in white neighborhoods, said William Tisdale, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council.

Tisdale said 16 percent of the homes evaluated by his organization in non-white neighborhoods had 10 or more deficiencies. No homes in white neighborhoods had that many deficiencies.

“Milwaukee is a city of well-maintained neighborhoods. Residents take pride in their communities. U.S. Bank is not a good neighbor,” said Tisdale, who showed several photos of blighted houses in Milwaukee during the web presentation.

“U.S. Bank is hurting Milwaukee’s African-American neighborhoods by allowing homes to have broken windows, overgrown shrubbery and an accumulation of trash,” he added.

The properties shown by Tisdale also lacked “For Sale” signs, suggesting the bank is skirting its responsibility to properly market the houses.

Nicole Garrison-Sprenger, a spokeswoman for the bank, called the claims inaccurate, saying U.S. Bank is only a trustee of the properties in question. The bank has no legal right to service or maintain properties that are held in an investment pool for which it is a trustee, she said in a statement.

“We share (National Fair Housing Alliance’s) concerns about abandoned and neglected properties and we fully support efforts to maintain the integrity of our communities,” she said.

Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for Mayor Tom Barrett, said U.S. Bank has been a “good partner in a variety of different ways in addressing the foreclosure issue in Milwaukee.”

“As banks go, they have certainly been in the top tier of partners in addressing some of the issues associated with the foreclosure crisis,” he added.

Share this...
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin

Filed Under: Carousel, Home, Housing, Neighborhoods, News Tagged With: foreclosure, housing

Avatar

About Brendan O’Brien

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Top Stories

Advertisement

How To …

How to avoid stimulus check scams

A new round of stimulus checks will likely also bring out a new round of scams. Here’s what to watch out for.

More "How To" articles

Advertisement

Recommended Reading

A Vaccine Reality Check

The Atlantic

UWM study on the state of Black Milwaukee describes the city as ‘the epitome of a 21st century racial regime’

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland

The New York Times

These mayors want to fight Covid-19 and the recession with one big idea: A guaranteed income

Vox

The World John Lewis Helped Create

The Atlantic

News

  • Arts and Recreation
  • Economic Development
  • Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Housing
  • Public Safety
  • NNS Spotlight
  • Special Reports
  • Multimedia
    • NNS Videos
    • Photos
    • NNS on Lake Effect Radio

Engage with us

  • Posts from Community
  • Community Voices
  • Submit a Story

About NNS

  • Staff
  • Partners
  • News414
  • The neighborhoods we cover
  • Internship opportunities
  • Careers
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS feed

Communities

Contact

mailing address
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Diederich College of Communication
Marquette University
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Johnston Hall 430
Milwaukee, WI 53233

email
info@milwaukeenns.org

phone & fax
PHONE: 414.604.6397 FAX: 414.288.6494

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service is a project of Diederich College of Communication and Marquette University.
© 2020 Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Terms of use.
1131 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee WI 53233 • info@milwaukeenns.org

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in