HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2019-31COUNTY COUNCIL
COUNTY OF KAUA’I
3&c&iolutton No.2019-31
SUPPORTING THE GOVERNOR’S EFFORTS IN
URGING THE BANK OF AMERICA TO RETURN TO HAWAI’I TO
MEET WITH NA PO’E KOKUA AND THE HAWAI’I FAIR LENDING
COALITION TO REACH A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
RELATING TO A $150,000,000 LOAN COMMITMENT FOR
NATIVE HAWAIIANS ON HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
WHEREAS,in 1993,Na Po’e Kökua,an organization established to assist
native Hawaiians with housing and related matters,formed the Hawai’i Fair Lending
Coalition (HFLC)and began researching how banks in Hawai’i were treating native
Hawaiians;and
WHEREAS,among its findings,HFLC discovered that Bank of America was
conducting discriminatory lending practices in the form of redlining,the practice of
denying services to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic
composition of those areas,by not providing mortgages on Hawaiian homelands;and
WHEREAS,in May 1994,as a result of HFLC’s efforts and as a condition of
Bank of America’s acquisition of Liberty Bank,the Federal Reserve System and
Office of Thrift Supervision ordered Bank of America to make one hundred fifty
million dollars ($150,000,000)in Federal Housing Administration Section 247
(FHA-247)mortgages available on Hawaiian homelands by 1998;and
WHEREAS,according to HFLC,by the 1998 deadline,Bank of America
provided only three million one hundred nine thousand five hundred two dollars
($3,109,502)of the one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000)in FHA-247
mortgages ordered by the Federal Reserve System;and
WHEREAS,the Federal Reserve also required that Bank of America provide
$30,000,000 in below market financing to low-income families on Kaua’i to help with
the island’s recovery from Hurricane ‘Iniki,yet according to HFLC none of this
required financing was provided on Kaua’i;and
WHEREAS,according to HFLC,in 1998 Bank of America recommitted to meet
the one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000)loan commitment to native
Hawaiians and to pay a four million five hundred thousand dollar ($4,500,000)late
fee based on the opportunity cost of its failure to fulfill its required commitment;and
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WHEREAS,according to HFLC,the Bank of America executive responsible for
this recommitment was Catherine P.Bessant,then in charge of Community
Development,who traveled to Hawai’i with other senior bank executives in
August 1998 to meet with Governor Cayetano,Hawaiian kupuna,and other
community leaders from the HFLC at lolani Palace;and
WHEREAS,Bank of America claims it met its commitments in 2007 and
allegedly received formal acknowledgment from the Department of Hawaiian Home
Lands that the one hundred fifty million dollar ($150,000,000)commitment had been
met;and
WHEREAS,according to HFLC,in 2012 the Hawaiian Homes Commission
unanimously confirmed that the Bank of America commitment remained unfulfilled
and expressed support for HFLC’s consistent and ongoing efforts to hold Bank of
America accountable;and
WHEREAS,on April 18,2018,Governor Ige invited Catherine P.Bessant,now
Chief Operations and Technology Officer of Bank of America,to return to Hawai’i to
meet with Na Poe Kökua and HFLC to investigate Bank of America’s one hundred
fifty million dollars ($150,000,000)loan commitment to the Hawaiian people on their
homelands;and
WHEREAS,Bank of America originated thirteen million ninety-two thousand
three hundred fourteen dollars ($13,092,314)in loans on Hawaiian homelands
from 1994 to 2012,and has made no FHA-247 loans since then,according to account
information provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)on August 20,2018,in response to a Freedom of Information Act
request;and
WHEREAS,according to HFLC,based upon HUD data the preliminary
estimates for Bank of America’s late fees are approximately three hundred sixty
million six hundred thousand dollars ($360,600,000)for lost opportunities for
building equity,reaping the benefits of a booming housing market,and paying
affordable mortgages rather than skyrocketing rents over the last twenty (20)years
for eight hundred ninety (890)native Hawaiian families who should have received
Bank of America mortgages by 1998,but did not,and the families who did receive
loans up to thirteen years after the deadline;now,therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUA’I,
STATE OF HAWAI’I,that it supports Governor Ige’s efforts in investigating and
urging Bank of America to return to Hawai’i to meet with Na Po’e Kökua and the
Hawai’i Fair Lending Coalition regarding to Bank of America’s one hundred fifty
million dollar ($150,000,000)loan commitment to native Hawaiians on Hawaiian
Home Lands.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,that the Chief Operations and Technology
Officer of Bank of America is urged to return to Hawai’i to meet with HFLC,as invited
by Governor Ige.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,that in addition to providing the mortgages on
Hawaiian Home Lands as ordered by the Federal Reserve System,Bank of America
is requested to address the alleged three hundred sixty million six hundred thousand
dollars ($360,600,000)in opportunity costs for native Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home
Lands and an alleged four million five hundred thousand dollar ($4,500,000)late fee
for failing to fulfill its required commitment.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,that in addition to providing the mortgages
and addressing the alleged opportunity costs and late fees for failing to fulfill its
required commitments on Hawaiian Home Lands,Bank of America is requested to
address its commitment of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000)to the County of Kaua’i
for efforts associated with building affordable housing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,that certified copies of this Resolution be
transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System;Hawai’i’s Congressional Delegation;Governor David Y.Ige;Kaua’i’s
Legislative Delegation;President of Na Po’e Kokua;Chief Executive Officer of Bank
of America;and Chief Operations and Technology Officer of Bank of America.
Introduced by:
LUKE EVSLIN
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