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Unequal Practice: How Race Affects Lexington Mortgage Lending |
Almost 50 individuals attended the Commission’s Town Hall meeting “UNEQUAL PRACTICE: How Race Affects Lexington Mortgage Lending” on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at the William Wells Brown Elementary School community room. The purpose of the meeting was to gather community input about the Commission’s Staff Report “Regardless of Income African-Americans Remain at Risk of Receiving High Cost Mortgage Loans”.
The forum began with a welcome and statement of purpose by Chris Ford, Chair of the Commission Housing Committee and who is also President and CEO of REACH, Inc. Chair Ford then introduced our moderator for the evening Renee Shaw, a producer and show host with KET. Ms. Shaw introduced the panel: Abdul Muhammad – Fifth Third Bank, Raquel Williams – Guide Realty Inc. and National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Art Crosby – Lexington Fair Housing Council and Karen Jones – Staff Attorney with Legal Aide of the Bluegrass.
The following organizations had resource tables: Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors, Lexington Fair Housing Council, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission, Mortgage Bankers Association of the Bluegrass, National Association of Real Estate Brokers, REACH Inc, Road to Homeownership Inc, and Urban League of Lexington.
The forum began with opening statements by all panelists who all agreed or acknowledged the findings of the Commission’s Staff Report. Each panelist shared their views of the issue from their personal and occupational prospective and then the discussion was open to the audience with our panelists remaining as resources to answer questions and comment on responses.
The following are general themes recorded from the discussion:
- The need for better financial education programs
- Better outreach programs to the reach the needy
- Community responsibility to respond effectively to this issue
- The problem of African Americans not doing business with mainstream financial institutions
- Lender and mortgage broker incentives, e.g. reliance on commission incentives
- Connection between bad loan products and foreclosures
- Problem of foreclosures and refinancing
- Foreclosures include middle and upper income homebuyers
- Why African Americans are not taking advantage of record low lending rates to buy or refinance homes and other loan restructure programs
- African Americans with middle and upper incomes may be hesitate to ask for help or assistance from traditional financial counseling programs
- Problems of reaching the audience that needs assistance
- Because of privacy concerns, internet an alternative for some seeking financing
- Advertising by other lenders more effective than local lenders
- Improvements in the regulation of Mortgage lenders by the General Assembly by passage of new laws
- Many bad actors now out of the business
- Banks and other lenders covered by CRA put their emphasis on other communities rather than Lexington Human Rights Council
- Need for financial education in our public schools and other opportunities outside of the home
- Banks should consider partnering with non-profits to reach the targeted audiences
- Better oversight of lenders by supervisors and brokers
- More detailed reporting on individual lending activity by individual institutions
The forum concluded by Chair Ford thanking the moderator, panelist and audience for their participation and the commitment of Commission to share with the audience feedback and to look for further communications from the Commission on this topic as a result of this discussion.
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