A Provision Hidden in the Banking Bill Could Hurt Black Homeowners
The country's racial wealth gap might widen if banks don't have to disclose as much about their mortgage-lending practices.
Imagine two families in Mobile, Alabama, trying to buy a home. The households are similar in many ways. They have roughly the same income and employment history. They are seeking to buy similar three-bedroom ranches in comparable, quiet neighborhoods. They both want a loan from the same local bank, and both want to put down a similar, standard down payment. The only difference is that one family is white and the other is black. Today—50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, 40 years after the passage of the Community Reinvestment Act, and a decade after the subprime-loan crisis—that black family would be 5.6 released last month by the Center for Investigative Reporting found.
