NCRC Releases Fair Lending Report

Fair Lending

On July 18, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) released a report analyzing data related to mortgage lending in St. Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and surrounding areas. According to the report, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and predominantly minority neighborhoods lack access to mortgage credit. The report makes various key findings, including that: (i) the racial composition of neighborhoods in St. Louis and Milwaukee is a predictor of mortgage activity, with lending allegedly greater in predominantly white populated neighborhoods than in predominantly African American neighborhoods; (ii) 70 percent of the Milwaukee Metropolitan statistical area population is white and receives 81 percent of the loans, while African Americans make up 16 percent of the population and receive four percent of the loans; and (iii) median family income of a neighborhood is the variable that best predicts home loan activity in Minneapolis. The report follows a similar analysis of alleged racial disparities in mortgage lending in Baltimore, Maryland released by NCRC last year.