“Redlining is alive and well, and it has had a lasting negative impact. For American families, homeownership remains the principal means of building wealth. Deprivation of investment in and denial of access to mortgage lending services have contributed to families of color persistently lagging behind in homeownership rates and net worth compared to white families,” announced Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark in her announcement on the Department of Justice’s new Anti-Redlining initiative.

“Redlining” is a practice typically engaged in by realtors and lenders, when they conspire to prevent Black and Hispanic families from moving into “white” neighborhoods. The practice has been observed in cities all over the United States, and is most prominent in upper middle class communities. Redlining is the reason that there are still many high-schools in the United States that are over 90% white.

“The extent of the disparities is staggering. The median family wealth of a black family is $24,100 compared to $188,200 for a white family; that is about seven and a half times less. As the Attorney General said, the homeownership gap between white and Black families is larger today than it was in 1960, before the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Ending redlining is a critical step in closing the widening gaps in wealth between communities of color and others.”

“The department analyzes several factors to determine whether a lender has engaged in redlining. We conduct statistical analysis on loan data and compare the lender’s rate of applications and loans in minority neighborhoods to the lending of “peer banks” that are similar in terms of loan volume and profile. We also consider other factors such as service areas that carve out communities of color, avoidance of minority neighborhoods when deciding where to place branches, and marketing efforts that largely avoid communities of color.”

“U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will act as force multipliers on this initiative, and we are pleased about the enthusiasm and commitment so many U.S Attorney districts demonstrated for this Initiative. Their participation will ensure that fair lending enforcement is informed by local expertise on housing markets and the credit needs of local communities of color. Their understanding of demographic shifts and relationships with community groups have proven quite valuable in previous redlining investigations. Our partnership will allow us to analyze lending patterns by all types of lenders of all sizes, including non-depository institutions and credit unions.”