Ameris Bank and the U.S. Department of Justice announced an agreement Oct. 19 over allegations the bank engaged in redlining in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville.
Ameris agreed to invest $9 million in the Jacksonville market under the agreement, which resulted from a Combating Redlining Initiative launched by the Justice Department two years ago.
Redlining is defined by the Justice Department as an “illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing credit services to individuals living in or seeking to live in, communities of color because of the race, color, or national origin of the residents in those communities.”