Navy Federal Review Finds No Evidence of Race-Based Lending While Defending Against Discrimination Lawsuit

• Navy Federal commissioned an external review which found no evidence of race-based decision making in its mortgage underwriting. The review stated that legitimate non-race factors explained most of the racial disparities in approval rates.

• The review accounted for non-public factors like credit scores and income verification which were not available in the public mortgage data analyzed by CNN and the Senate Banking Committee.

• The lawyer who conducted the review works for the law firm defending Navy Federal against a discrimination lawsuit over its lending practices, presenting a potential conflict of interest.

• Navy Federal filed a motion to dismiss the discrimination lawsuit, arguing the plaintiffs failed to provide adequate notice before filing suit per Navy Federal's membership agreements.

• Navy Federal stated it is examining new initiatives to expand access to credit and address systemic barriers to homeownership for its diverse members.