Big Banks to Non-Whites: No Loans for You « SpeakEasy
source: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/13/big-banks-to-non-whites-no-loans-for-you/
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Why would minority communities get fewer mortgages than white communities since the financial crisis? What did you say? That couldn’t be true in our post-racial America. Well think again my white friends because that isn’t what Reuters is reporting this morning:
According to the study, prime lending in communities of color from 2006 when the foreclosure crisis began to 2008 — the most recent year for which data are available — decreased 60.3 percent compared to 28.4 percent in largely white areas.”The financial crisis has led to significantly reduced access to mortgage credit for all borrowers and communities,” the report states. “In neighborhoods of color, however, where the foreclosure crisis has taken an especially severe toll, access to prime, conventional mortgage loans has declined precipitously — to a much greater degree than in predominantly white neighborhoods.”
The report also examines the lending patterns of America’s four top banks: Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Wells Fargo.
While all four banking groups increased their prime refinance lending to white neighborhoods from 2006 to 2008, the report found that only Citigroup increased lending to minority communities — though by far less than to white areas.
The study conducted by a collaboration among seven non-profit advocacy groups looked at the housing markets in “Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, North Carolina, Cleveland, Ohio and Rochester, New York” for the years 2006-2008 (ie., from the beginnings of the housing crisis through the last year, 2008,for which data is available). Isn’t it interesting that new mortgages in white communities declined by 28.4% but new mortgages in minority communities declined by more than twice as much: 60.3%. Gee, I wonder why?
What was even more striking was the fact that the four largest banks in the country and the largest recipients of the Federal Government’s bail out funds (Bank of America, Citibank, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo) actually increased their re-financing of mortgages in white communities during this time while decreasing refinancing to minority communities:
Between 2006 and 2008 the share of prime refinance loans made in communities of color dropped 35% whereas the share of these loans made in predominantly white communities increased 11%.
So there was a significant gap between refinanced mortgage loans if you were white versus non-white in these seven cities. The color of your skin clearly made a huge difference as to whether one of these “Too Big To Fail” banking institutions to which our Government in the waning days of the Bush administration handed out billions of dollars “no questions asked” to keep them from going under.
Let’s consider the implications of those statistics, shall we? When these big banks started cutting back on their loans for residential mortgages they cut off the “colored people” first, but kept lending to white folks.
More at the link:
According to the study, prime lending in communities of color from 2006 when the foreclosure crisis began to 2008 — the most recent year for which data are available — decreased 60.3 percent compared to 28.4 percent in largely white areas.”The financial crisis has led to significantly reduced access to mortgage credit for all borrowers and communities,” the report states. “In neighborhoods of color, however, where the foreclosure crisis has taken an especially severe toll, access to prime, conventional mortgage loans has declined precipitously — to a much greater degree than in predominantly white neighborhoods.”
The report also examines the lending patterns of America’s four top banks: Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Wells Fargo.
While all four banking groups increased their prime refinance lending to white neighborhoods from 2006 to 2008, the report found that only Citigroup increased lending to minority communities — though by far less than to white areas.
The study conducted by a collaboration among seven non-profit advocacy groups looked at the housing markets in “Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, North Carolina, Cleveland, Ohio and Rochester, New York” for the years 2006-2008 (ie., from the beginnings of the housing crisis through the last year, 2008,for which data is available). Isn’t it interesting that new mortgages in white communities declined by 28.4% but new mortgages in minority communities declined by more than twice as much: 60.3%. Gee, I wonder why?
What was even more striking was the fact that the four largest banks in the country and the largest recipients of the Federal Government’s bail out funds (Bank of America, Citibank, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo) actually increased their re-financing of mortgages in white communities during this time while decreasing refinancing to minority communities:
Between 2006 and 2008 the share of prime refinance loans made in communities of color dropped 35% whereas the share of these loans made in predominantly white communities increased 11%.
So there was a significant gap between refinanced mortgage loans if you were white versus non-white in these seven cities. The color of your skin clearly made a huge difference as to whether one of these “Too Big To Fail” banking institutions to which our Government in the waning days of the Bush administration handed out billions of dollars “no questions asked” to keep them from going under.
Let’s consider the implications of those statistics, shall we? When these big banks started cutting back on their loans for residential mortgages they cut off the “colored people” first, but kept lending to white folks.
More at the link:
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