Financial services · ASB

Associated Bank

Associated Bank is a Green Bay, Wisconsin–based regional bank serving consumers and businesses across the Upper Midwest.

The quick read Reason for concern Reviewed Aug 24, 2026

The quick snapshot

Public concern on the record.

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Public concern

Why people pushed back

HUD announced in May 2015 that it had reached an approximately $200 million settlement with Associated Bank, N.A., resolving a Secretary-initiated complaint alleging that from 2008–2010 the bank discriminated in denying mortgage loans to African-American and Hispanic applicants and in serving neighborhoods with significant African-American or Hispanic populations. HUD called it its largest redlining settlement of that kind. Settlements of this type typically include no admission of liability.

~$200M HUD settlement
May 2015: HUD announced historic ~$200M redlining settlementHUD’s May 26, 2015, release said it had reached an agreement with Associated Bank, N.A., resolving a disparate-treatment redlining case—at approximately $200 million, the largest settlement of its kind HUD had ever reached. The Secretary-initiated complaint alleged that from 2008–2010 the Wisconsin-based bank engaged in discriminatory lending regarding denial of mortgage loans to African-American and Hispanic applicants and loan services in neighborhoods with significant African-American or Hispanic populations. Those are HUD’s allegations resolved by settlement.Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ↗
HUD redlining allegations
HUD alleged few loans in majority-minority tracts vs. nearby white tractsHUD said its analysis indicated that, compared with other mortgage lenders, Associated made few loans in majority-minority census tracts in five metropolitan areas in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, but did make loans in nearby predominantly white tracts. HousingWire reported HUD framing the deal as the largest redlining settlement of its kind. Those are agency allegations and press accounts of the settlement, not a jury verdict.Source: HousingWire ↗
No-admission settlement
Coverage: no-admission settlement of African-American and Hispanic redlining claimsContemporary fair-lending analyses of the conciliation agreement noted HUD alleged disproportionate denials of African-American and Hispanic applicants and underservice of minority neighborhoods, with statistically significant HMDA disparities, and that the agreement did not constitute evidence of a determination by HUD of a Fair Housing Act violation or an admission by the bank. That is the standard settlement labeling this file keeps.Source: Consumer Financial Services Watch ↗

Aug 24, 2026 · The Cookout Editorial Desk

Associated Bank’s HUD deal was a ~$200M redlining settlement, not a gift

BLUF

In 2015 HUD announced an approximately $200 million settlement resolving redlining allegations that Associated Bank underserved African-American and Hispanic borrowers and neighborhoods.

What happened

In May 2015 the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an agreement with Associated Bank, N.A., resolving a Secretary-initiated fair-housing complaint. HUD alleged that from 2008–2010 the Wisconsin bank discriminated in denying mortgages to African-American and Hispanic applicants and in providing loan services in neighborhoods with significant African-American or Hispanic populations. HUD said its HMDA analysis showed Associated made few loans in majority-minority tracts in five Upper Midwest metro areas compared with nearby white tracts.

HUD called the approximately $200 million package its largest redlining settlement of that kind: nearly $200 million in increased mortgage lending in majority-minority tracts, nearly $10 million in rate and down-payment assistance, new offices, and other injunctive terms. HousingWire and fair-lending coverage recorded the same frame. As is customary, such settlements typically admit no liability and are not a trial finding.

The Cookout read

Concern. Federal redlining allegations that a regional bank starved Black and Hispanic neighborhoods of mortgages—then writing a nine-figure lending commitment to settle—are the receipt. Label the dollars as settlement remedies, not philanthropy.

Open the primary source ↗

Now / update

Where the record stands.

Last reviewed Aug 24, 2026. This is present-day status, not a new verdict.

The May 2015 HUD settlement announcement is the dated item opened here. This file does not independently audit later Associated Bank HMDA performance.

Last reviewed August 24, 2026.

Source file

Open the full passages.

Links may change after publication. Dates describe the event or publication listed in the record.

01
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
May 2015: HUD announced historic ~$200M redlining settlement · May 26, 2015
Read source ↗
02
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Settlement terms: ~$200M lending plus ~$10M borrower assistance · May 26, 2015
Read source ↗
03
HousingWire
HUD alleged few loans in majority-minority tracts vs. nearby white tracts · May 26, 2015
Read source ↗
04
Consumer Financial Services Watch
Coverage: no-admission settlement of African-American and Hispanic redlining claims · Jun 1, 2015
Read source ↗

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