Fair Housing Act

Nearly 50 years after the federal Fair Housing Act was signed into law, banning racial discrimination in lending, black prospective homebuyers in the St. Louis area continue to be denied conventional mortgage loans at a much higher rate than whites.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday launched a rate spread calculator and validation tool for financial companies reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data starting Jan. 1.

While the courts have affirmed cities’ right to file predatory lending suits, they are also now holding them to a much higher standard in proving that banks knowingly steered minority borrowers into high-cost home loans.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has revived the idea of putting a question on the loan application asking consumers what language they want to communicate in.

The city joins a growing list of municipalities that have filed similar lawsuits, just two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that municipalities have standing to sue lenders under the Fair Housing Act.

The credit union allegedly denied a 2015 mortgage application from a married couple when the woman was on maternity leave, violating the Fair Housing Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a mixed decision on the reach of the main federal housing-discrimination law, telling a lower court to reconsider whether Miami can sue banks for lending practices the city said contributed to urban blight.

American Financial Network has agreed to pay $5,000 to an unnamed person of Hispanic origin to settle a Fair Housing Act claim.

Mayor Sylvester Turner expressed optimism Monday about city efforts to resolve a federal finding that Houston housing policies violate the Civil Rights Act, saying U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson told him last month he "is very pleased with the direction in which we are going."

A San Jose apartment owner has found a way to evict long-time tenants, jack up the rents on her units and collect government subsidies in the process — by leasing her apartments to homeless veterans.