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Heck, Renting's Simpler Anyway
Apparently even in the best of times, the best of times are not spread evenly. In the midst of what has been characterized as the largest economic and housing boom in history, two national studies released September 15 raise concern over discrimination toward minority groups in mortgage lending. In 1998, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and another conducted by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), black homebuyers nationwide were about twice as likely to be rejected for both conventional and government-backed home mortgage loans as white applicants with the same employment and credit history. Lenders turned down Latinos at a slightly lower rate--about 50 percent more frequently than their white counterparts. If those national numbers are grim, locally it's even worse. According to the ACORN findings, when it came to doling out conventional mortgages, Twin Cities lenders rejected Latinos 166 percent more frequently than whites--the second-highest Latino rejection rate in the 41 cities studied. Government-backed mortgages for Latinos were slightly better, garnering 69 percent more rejections. Blacks, meanwhile, got 105 percent more denials than whites for conventional mortgages, and a whopping 222 percent more for government-backed mortgages, the latter being the second-highest such rate in the study. "There are still too many people being left behind," laments Minnesota ACORN chairman Alton Bennett. "African Americans and Latinos have fallen so far behind. If we couldn't gain any ground last year, then when will we?"
At Off Beat our motto is "Staying informed so you don't have to." Call (612) 372-3788 or send e-mail to offbeat@citypages.com with any poop that's fit to print.
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