LOS ANGELES — City National Bank has been hit with a $31 million settlement for refusing to underwrite mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities, according to an investigation by the Department of Justice.

 The department also states that from 2017 to 2020, other banks in Los Angeles County received more than six times as many applications in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods than City National Bank each year.

City National also opened just one branch in these neighborhoods over the last 20 years, but opened and acquired 11 branches in other areas.