ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
The Metro Fair Housing Services in Atlanta told CBS Atlanta News Friday that they have found a troubling trend with foreclosed homes that are bank-owned.
"You won't find properties in majority communities that look like this," Metro Fair Housing Services Executive Director Gail Williams said.
Williams said the National Fair Housing Alliance conducted a yearlong investigation into foreclosed homes and discovered that Bank of America was less likely to maintain properties in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.
"Forty-five percent of all 71 properties that scored 'D' and 'F' are located in African American neighborhoods; only one 'F' property was found in a white neighborhood in the greater Atlanta neighborhood," Williams said.
As a result, the National Fair Housing Alliance has filed a discrimination complaint against Bank of America.
"So I believe what they're saying that they're not maintaining these homes, they're not putting money back into our communities. It's evident," neighbor Vanessa Hill said.
CBS Atlanta News contacted Bank of America regarding the complaint and they said.
"While we share NFHA's concern about neighborhoods, we strongly deny their allegations and stand behind our property maintenance and marketing practices," they said in a statement.
"It says clearly we have some racial disparities in how properties are maintained as well as marketed," Williams said.
Williams said their investigation found that Bank of America isn't the only bank guilty of this practice.
"We also filed complaints against Wells Fargo Bank in April of this year and against U.S. Bank and we found the problem to be exactly the same," Williams said.
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