| Item 7.01 | Regulation FD Disclosure. |
On May 31, 2023, ESSA Bancorp, Inc., the parent company of ESSA Bank & Trust (“ESSA Bank”), issued a press release announcing that ESSA Bank entered into a consent order with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to resolve allegations of violations of the fair lending laws within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Statistical Area (“MSA”). A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
Under the settlement, ESSA Bank agrees to provide $2.9 million in mortgage loan subsidies over a five-year period for majority Black and Hispanic census tracts, with at least 50% of those subsidies to be invested in specified Philadelphia MSA census tracts in proximity to ESSA Bank’s two Delaware County branch locations. The remainder of the subsidies may be used in other qualifying areas.
ESSA Bank is also committing $250,000 in additional focused marketing and outreach, $125,000 in community development partnerships, and making investments in additional mortgage professionals and a community development officer focused on statistically underserved communities.
The settlement includes no civil penalties levied against ESSA Bank.
The DOJ consent order must be approved by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and at that point all claims asserted by the DOJ against ESSA Bank will have been resolved according to its terms.
The information in this Current Report and the information included herein, including Exhibit 99.1 hereto, shall be not deemed to be “filed” for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section. The furnishing of the information under in this Current Report will not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information herein.
Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements contained herein are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “may,” “will,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “continue,” or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which ESSA Bancorp, Inc. operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, changes in government regulations affecting financial institutions, including compliance costs and capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, credit risk management, asset-liability management, the financial and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources of liquidity, and the Risk Factors disclosed in our annual, quarterly and current reports.
ESSA Bancorp, Inc. wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. ESSA Bancorp, Inc. wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect ESSA Bancorp, Inc.’s financial performance and could cause ESSA Bancorp, Inc.’s actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements. ESSA Bancorp, Inc. does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
