Mortgage Lending and Race: Conceptual and Analytic Perspectives of the Urban Financing Problem

Details:
Few housing issues have aroused as much controversy in the last few years as the charge leveled by some community groups and politicians that financial institutions are hastening the decline of many American urban neighborhoods by arbitrarily denying them adequate mortgage credit. Lenders vehemently deny this accusation; they claim they merely adhere to sound lending practices and do not unjustifiably discriminate against city locations. Accelerating urban decay, and the perception that a credit shortfall is contributing to this decline, has caused Federal and state governments to enact or consider legislation that ranges from simple requirements that financial institutions disclose where and to whom they grant loans, to more stringent measures such as credit allocation to urban centers. This book examines the urban financing problem—the difficulty faced by residents of some urban neighborhoods in obtaining institutional mortgages or other loans for purchasing, refinancing, or repairing properties.