The following story was reported on BOL on 7/27/22. In case it was missed, following is a summary and some take-aways.

The Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are taking the fight to non-bank mortgage lenders for redlining.
The two agencies revealed their new strategy to rein in mortgage discrimination on Wednesday, with a $24.4 million consent order, stemming from a referral the CFPB made in November 2020. It’s the DOJ’s second-largest mortgage redlining settlement ever, and its first against a non-bank mortgage lender.

The complaint alleged Trident Mortgage Co., a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, discriminated in its marketing outreach, failed to hire minority loan officers, avoided making loans or locating offices in minority areas and sent racist internal emails.
Referring to non-bank mortgage lenders, Chopra said the CFPB would “look for new ways to penalize them and hold them accountable when they break the law with impunity.”

Chopra also reiterated his concerns about digital redlining, and algorithms that “might disguise bias in the formula.”
The consent order with Trident follows reporting from Reveal, an investigative journalism outlet, that the mortgage company catered to white borrowers. In 2018, Allison Bethel, director of the fair housing clinic at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, told Reveal that it seemed Trident was “intentionally avoiding doing business with people of color.”

The complaint against Trident alleges that nearly all of its offices were in majority-white areas. The complaint alleged that 64 of Trident’s 68 loan officers in Philadelphia from 2015 to 2019 were white. In its marketing materials, the company allegedly used “white-appearing models and images of all white mortgage loan officers,” which the DOJ and CFPB allege discouraged minority residents from applying for loans.
The mortgage applications Trident ultimately generated in majority-minority areas also lagged its peers, according to the complaint. Out of the 30,701 mortgage applications Trident made from 2015 to 2019 in Philadelphia, 12% came from residents of majority-minority areas, the complaint alleged. According to the complaint, Trident’s peers generated 21.5% of their applications from the same majority-minority neighborhoods.

Some take away's for all lenders.

Document brick and mortar in all areas, or if there are limited facilities, document the outreach - loan officers meeting clients at their homes, contact with brokers in Majority-Minority ("MM") tracts, training classes. Many branches are located in LMI/MM tracts, but some applicants might be hesitant to go to a loan office (e.g.) on the 8th floor of a multi-story building.

Ensure your LO's are representative of the community. Each group has a unique culture, and a LO fitting the culture is generally trusted more, especially if there is a 2nd language involved. If marketing to e.g., Hispanics, make sure there is a person/number at the bank that can converse with them in their native language about the product they are interested in.

Understand the demographics of your communities and market to them. The fact that a newspaper markets to the entire county is immaterial if the readership is 90% one race/ or ethnicity. Ensure the materials, photos and programs are geared to the audience you are trying to reach.

Compare yourselves to your competitors and peers. Some mega-banks and companies have an advantage as they can flood the airways with ads. Compare yourself additionally with peers (50% - 200% of your HMDA line count). This additionally eliminates the mega lenders and the one and two closings. Most institutions have similar products and underwriting, so the actions are usually similar.

Understand your areas housing. Not all people have the same propensity for home ownership. It will be harder to lend in a tract where the renter occupancy exceeds the owner occupancy or multi-family dwellings exceed 1-4 family. Most rental property is considered someone's "inventory".

How were the internal Trident emails listed in the Enforcement Action discovered?
Were internal communications a part of a DOJ subpoena?

I really do not know in the triton this case. However, in many cases brought to the department of justice, an insider at the financial institution, who feels either the they have been wronged, or where the financial institution has wronged or harmed others will report it on a whistleblower concept. All they would need to have is one example, and they DOJ. could use that to require a search.

In an EEO case several years ago an investigation on sexual preferences was started because an employee was passed over for a promotion. The CEO had bragged how they never destroyed an email. One from 10 years prior was given to regulators, and they had a treasure trove of collaborating correspondence. After the appeals, fines etc, the first order was for all employees to delete unnecessary non business emails. Some got rid of 20,000. Less liability, more computer space than they needed.