A new joint study based on the 2004 Home Disclosure Act revealed data that indicates that not only minorities and women receive an unusually high number of subprime mortgages, despite the borrowers' economic status. The study found that all immigrant populations are highly likely to be granted a subprime loan. Just over 8% of middle- and upper-income borrowers in white neighborhoods received a subprime mortgage, while 13.6% of borrowers in immigrant neighborhoods received a subprime mortgage. Both groups had the same income. The study was conducted by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), The Opportunity Agenda and the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC). It revealed that home lending inequities transcend the racial and gender lines and flow into the ethnicity issue. The report, "Homeownership and Wealth Building Impeded: Continuing Lending Disparities for Minorities and Emerging Obstacles for Middle-Income and Female Borrowers of all Races," is a first step in forming a solution. "This report is the first to show the home lending cross-sections between race, gender and income and to specifically examine lending practices in immigrant neighborhoods," said John Taylor, president and CEO of NCRC. "It clearly outlines that regardless of how much money you make, if you are part of the traditionally underserved, then odds are you are receiving a high cost loan. That makes it difficult to keep your home, manage your bills and to build inheritable wealth in this country." The study also found that minorities and immigrants receive strikingly high numbers of high cost mortgages, despite their economic status. Women, regardless of ethnicity or race, received over 32.1% of subprime mortgages made to all Americans, even though females compose only 29% of the nation's households. Women only received 24% of the prime home purchase loans. "This report shows that the security of homeownership remains out of reach for many because of differences in home lending markets across communities," explained Brian D. Smedley, research director for the Opportunity Agenda. "These lending disparities compound the multiple barriers to opportunity that many groups face." |
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