Minority report: lenders disproportionately rejecting non-white refinancing hopefuls

In 2009, while U.S. mortgage lenders were busy more than doubling the number of refinance loans they made to Americans living in predominantly white neighborhoods, they were allowing lending in minority communities to decline by an average of 17 percent. According to a new report by a group of non-profits including New York City’s Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, the Woodstock Institute and the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, lenders denied between 29 and 60 percent of hopeful refinancing applicants from minority communities, while denying only 12 to 24 percent of those applying from white communities. The report’s authors recommend an expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act, greater transparency in foreclosure prevention efforts and stricter enforcement of fair lending laws in order to address the disparities uncovered in the study. The full report is below. TRD