|
Redlining: Modern-day discrimination
By U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Ohioans looking to buy a home shouldn’t have to worry that
their mortgage applications will be turned down because of
the color of their skin. But a new report from the Center
for Investigative Reporting shows that this is still the
case for far too many Americans.
This form of discrimination is called “redlining,” and it
dates back to the early 1930’s, when surveyors with the
federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation intentionally drew
maps with lines around many African American neighborhoods,
colored them red, and designated these areas as “hazardous”
for bank lending. That blatant discrimination kept families
of color locked out of entire neighborhoods and preserved
segregated communities across the country.
This month marks the 50th Anniversary of the Fair
Housing Act of 1968, which for the first time made it
illegal to discriminate in the sale, rental, or financing of
housing. But today, as we recognize National Fair Housing
Month, the outlines of decades-old discrimination are still
too visible.
Earlier this year, the Center for Investigative Reporting
released a study on modern-day redlining in 61 U.S. cities,
and the evidence is clear: people of color still face
discrimination when they apply for mortgages to buy homes.
Sadly, the City of Dayton was among those cities listed. The
report found that black applicants in Dayton were more than
twice as likely to be denied conventional home mortgages as
white applicants. African Americans are being unfairly
turned down for mortgages based on their race and the
neighborhoods where they are hoping to buy, even when you
take into account factors like their income and the size of
the loan.
While the origins of redlining are rooted in the past, this
evidence reveals that modern-day redlining is still very
much a problem. That’s why after the 2008 financial crisis,
we amended the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to require banks
and other lenders to report additional data, including data
on race, so we can better identify and stop discrimination.
And we created a new Consumer Protection Bureau, to monitor
this data and go after lenders that are breaking the rules,
discriminating, and cheating consumers.
Our ability to collect that crucial data, and shine a light
on the ways people of color are locked out of the housing
market or overcharged on their loans, is now under attack.
In March, the Senate passed a bill that would exempt 85
percent of banks that are currently reporting data. This
would undermine the Consumer Protection Bureau’s ability to
spot and go after racial discrimination. At the same time,
the Department of Housing and Urban Development has taken
steps to downgrade its anti-discrimination efforts.
Congress created the Consumer Protection Bureau to combat
predatory mortgage lending practices targeted at racial and
ethnic minorities that led to families losing their homes,
and that helped fuel the housing market collapse. This
predatory lending made inequality worse across racial and
ethnic lines, destroying almost half the wealth in
communities of color during the financial crisis. Weakening
the Consumer Protection Bureau’s fair lending enforcement
would diminish protections and put people of color at higher
risk of being preyed on by shady lenders.
When the Senate voted to roll back Dodd-Frank, I voted
against scaling back those protections and will fight
against any effort to slash consumer protections that could
result in the predatory mortgages we saw just a decade ago.
Ohioans should have access to affordable, safe mortgages and
not have to worry about unfair or deceptive lending
practices.
Buying a home is one of the most important decisions a
family will make in their lives. Last year, the author
Mathew Desmond scribbled a note to me in the front of his
book on housing. He wrote, “home = life.” For so many,
owning a home can change their lives. A good, standard
mortgage provides equity and financial stability. And
Ohioans choose their homes with care – they look for safe
neighborhoods and vibrant communities; good schools and
parks for their kids. The opportunity to chart your own
destiny in life often begins with choosing where you live.
And too many families of color are being denied that
opportunity.
No Ohioan should ever be denied access to a home loan, or
become the target of predatory lending, because of the color
of her skin. It’s clear now more than ever that we need the
Consumer Protection Bureau to protect Ohioans from
modern-day redlining and hold financial institutions
accountable for their actions.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) lives in Cleveland. He is
the top Democrat on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs.
|
