The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it has reached an agreement with PNC Mortgage in Trumbull, Conn., settling allegations that the lender violated the Fair Housing Act by requiring a home loan applicant on paid maternity leave to return to work before the lender would approve a home loan. PNC Mortgage is a division of Virginia-based PNC Bank National Association. 

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.  Refusing to approve a mortgage loan or provide refinancing because a woman is pregnant or on maternity leave violates the Fair Housing Act’s prohibitions against sex and familial status discrimination.