Trump's Treasury Secretary Pick Steve Mnuchin Accused Of Discrimination, Redlining
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- The man President-elect Donald Trump is tapping for U.S. Treasury Secretary -- billionaire hedge fund manager and former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin -- is facing claims of discrimination.
Kevin Stein is with the California Reinvestment Coalition, one of two non-profits that filed this complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development claiming that One West, the bank that Mnuchin once chaired, engaged in housing discrimination.
"We are alleging violations of the fair housing act," Stein said.
Stein says with Mnuchin at the helm, One West bank foreclosed 36,000 homes statewide.
Stein said, "The main way in which the bank interacted with working class families in California was through foreclosure."
But that's not all.
In a complaint, the nonprofits allege that One West left foreclosed properties in a state of disrepair in predominately African American, Asian American and Latino communities while keeping foreclosures in white neighborhoods in better condition.
KPIX 5 tracked down an abandoned East Oakland home once owned by One West.
Stein says their research shows One West also engaged in redlining.
Of the loans that it made, it made very few to people of color, Stein said.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi lashed out at Trump's pick, calling Mnuchin "a Wall Street banker who profited from the financial crisis" and saying "President-elect Trump is handing over the keys to the same players who drove our economy into a ditch."
Stein said his organization doesn't believe somebody like Mnuchin should be in a regulatory position.
