Racial bias

The class action complaint comes after U.S. senators called on regulators to investigate the bank’s alleged treatment of minority homeowners.

An audit found that mostly wealthy, white homeowners in urban counties were benefiting from the century-old policy.

This follows the publication last week of an investigation that found that the bank had in 2020 approved only 47% of applications to refinance mortgages completed by Black homeowners compared with 72% of those from White applicants.

Mortgage companies can open doors to homeownership for more minorities by incorporating low-down-payment financing options; closing cost credits; down-payment assistance; diverse, in-market sales teams ready to provide access and support; and more, writes the chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The complaint seeks unspecified damages over the bank’s mortgage origination and underwriting practices, alleging minority homebuyers were excluded from affordable, low-risk loans.

Housing rights advocates said minority home-buyers and homeowners in 39 U.S. metropolitan areas will receive the funds as a result of a legal action alleging racial discrimination in the government-sponsored enterprise's foreclosure practices.

The researchers found that the disparities that emerged from the analysis of 1.8 million appraisals from 2019 and 2020 were statistically significant.

Wayne County, Michigan's use of Delinquent Tax Anticipation Notes is an extreme example of a nationwide phenomenon: Local officials use fines and foreclosures or tax lien sales as cudgels against people who haven’t paid their property taxes. Some municipalities’ efforts to securitize or sell the debts have led to a broad, upward transfer of wealth that’s rooted in fundamentally unfair tax systems.

A Dallas policy that is supposed to tackle affordable housing shortages doesn't do enough to address systemic racial and economic barriers residents face, according to a new report.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency found several comments that could lead to fair lending concerns in the “neighborhood description” section of reports.