Racial bias

With state policy increasingly focused on boosting development to address the housing affordability crisis, California adopted measures Tuesday to combat discrimination in the housing market.

Co-chair Susan Rice, a former United Nations Ambassador, has made racial equity a central issue to her agenda as domestic policy council chair.

In late July, the Justice Department notified the Houston bank of a potential lawsuit alleging violations between 2013 and 2017, according to a securities filing. Cadence said that its prospective merger partner, BancorpSouth, supports the settlement discussions.

The pandemic made it harder for many Americans to qualify for mortgages. But it hit middle-to low-income minority borrowers harder than most.

In the midst of ongoing discussions on how to better leverage analytics and digitize the home inspection process, there are some clear actions that we can take to reduce bias in the mortgage industry, writes the executive vice president of corporate strategy at Clear Capital.

The newly public technology provider will use community and industry partnerships to give banking access to historically underserved communities.

White Americans are more likely to benefit from generational wealth when purchasing property.

Under the agreement with New York Department of Financial Services, the company will promote the purchase of homes in historically disadvantaged communities in the northern part of the state.

Financial inclusion is the civil rights issue of our generation — and getting more Americans, especially younger and minority families, into decent, affordable housing is a critical step on the ladder to financial capability, writes a board member of the National Credit Union Administration.

The 2013 rule, which was weakened under the Trump administration, established a comparatively low bar for plaintiffs alleging discrimination.

Announced the day before the first federally recognized Juneteenth holiday, the Black Homeownership Collaborative has a seven-point initiative to improve upon racial equality in home buying in the next nine years.

The program, announced last October, looks to provide services to minority-owned banks and credit unions so they can increase homeownership rates in their communities.

Housing experts and advocates disagree on the biggest factor in advancing the Black homeownership rate — and that's part of the problem.

Nonprofits connecting Historically Black Colleges and Universities to mortgage career education courses seek to increase the number of Black professionals in the field, who in turn may help to increase homeownership among underserved populations.

Estimates suggest the government-sponsored enterprises did encourage increased lending to this demographic last year but ran into challenges related to the pandemic's impact and their own fluctuating business models.

There is a persistent undersupply of moderately-priced homes, which continues to push affordability and the dream of homeownership further into the future for millions of potential first-time minority homeowners, writes the president of mortgage for Radian Group Inc.

The confirmation of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary presents an opportunity to restore the legacy of homeownership in America, something that for communities of color has long been out of reach, writes CBC Mortgage's Tai Christensen.

Even in the best-case scenario, it would take 45 years to achieve an equal amount of housing-related capital between Blacks and whites.

The lender will expand certain mortgage products, like its HomeRun program, which requires lower down payments and removes mortgage-insurance requirements for lower-income borrowers.

At the metro level, Buffalo, N.Y., had the worst undervaluation for Black-owned homes at 86% followed by 72% in both Memphis, Tenn., and Indianapolis, Redfin found.