Feds probe PNC mortgage pricing

The Justice Department’s civil rights division and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are investigating PNC Financial Services for some of their mortgage pricing practices

The Justice Department’s civil rights division and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are investigating PNC Financial Services for some of their mortgage pricing practices.

The banking giant stated in a Thursday filing with the SEC that the DOJ and CFPB are investigating whether its mortgage loan pricing “had a disparate impact on protected classes.”

The filing didn’t elaborate on the case, but the probe could mean that the government thinks PNC’s lending practices unfairly affected certain social groups, according to a USA Today report.

According to the SEC filing, the feds are investigating both PNC and National City, which PNC bought out in 2008. According to the filing, the DOJ notified PNC that “it had authorized the filing of a civil complaint against PNC, also as successor to National City.”

PNC has also been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan in a separate investigation, according to the filing.  The office was seeking information about “claims for foreclosure expenses that are incurred in connection with the foreclosure of loans insured or guaranteed by” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration.

PNC said it would cooperate with the investigations. “Our practice is to cooperate fully with regulatory and governmental investigations, audits and other inquiries,” the SEC filing stated.