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Citizens Bank to pay $115K to settle woman's fair-housing complaint

Citizens Bank has agreed to pay $115,000 to settle a complaint that it told a woman who was on maternity leave with full pay that she would have to return to work before the bank would approve a home-equity line of credit, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Friday.

Citizens Bank has agreed to pay $115,000 to settle a complaint that it told a woman who was on maternity leave with full pay that she would have to return to work before the bank would approve a home-equity line of credit, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Friday.

As part of the settlement of the alleged Fair Housing Act violation, Citizens Bank will pay the woman $40,000, provide fair-housing training to its staff, and make a $75,000 donation to a HUD-approved fair-housing or advocacy organization.

Citizens Bank, based in Providence, R.I., is among the biggest banks in the Philadelphia region. It had 181 branches in the region with $16.6 billion in deposits as of June 30, 2015. Bank officials did not immediately provide a comment.

hbrubaker@phillynews.com

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