RENO/SPARKS NAACP TO JOIN NAACP NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
AGAINST MORTGAGE DISCRIMINATION ON JULY 2

NAACP Lawsuit Targets National City Corporation, Citi, Wamu, GMAC and Other Lenders

Reno — The Reno/Sparks Branch of the NAACP will mark the NAACP's National Day of Action against mortgage discrimination with a press conference at the National City Corporation, 745 W. Moana Lane, Reno at 10:00 a.m
.
The Day of Action will be marked by events across the country, including New York, Seattle, Baltimore, San Antonio, Wilmington, Del. and others.

NAACP officials, other leaders and community members will hold events at lending institutions and in affected neighborhoods.

The NAACP has also filed a class-action lawsuit against 17 of the nation's largest lenders for discrimination. The goal of the lawsuit and the Day of Action is to push these lenders to make amends for discrimination that they have perpetrated and to stamp out this sort of discrimination for good.

The victims in this case had the same credit, income and qualifications as these institutions' other lenders. The only difference was that they were African American. Because of their race, their loans had higher interest rates and other worse terms.

The defendants in the lawsuit are: Chase Bank USA NA, Washington Mutual, Inc., Citimortgage, Inc., HSBC Finance Corporation, GMAC Mortgage Group, LLC, GMAC Residential Capital, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Fremont Investment & Loan, Option One Mortgage Corporation, WMC Mortgage Corporation, Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corporation dba Encore Credit, First Franklin Financial Corporation, National City Corporation, First Tennessee Bank dba First Horizon National Corp., Long Beach Mortgage Company, and Suntrust Mortgage.

Interviews with attorneys working on the case and NAACP national leaders are available.

WHAT: Reno/Sparks NAACP Branch news conference to mark NAACP National Day of Action Against Mortgage Discrimination

WHEN: Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM

WHERE: 745 W. Moana Lane, Reno, Nevada

WHO: Lucille Adin, President

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.