Did racist lending practices set minorities up for foreclosure?
A new report from the Center for Responsible Lending finds that most people who lost their homes to foreclosure have been middle- to upper-class whites.
But Latino and African-American families have suffered a disproportionate share of the losses.
Among mortgages made between 2004 and 2008, 2.7 million or 6.4 percent ended in foreclosure, and 3.6 million, or 8.3 percent, remain at immediate, serious risk of going under.
Of homes lost to foreclosure during the period, 1.5 million belonged to whites, 635,000 to Latinos and 397,000 to African-Americans.
The report’s findings also reveal:
· African-Americans and Latinos across the credit-score spectrum were more likely to receive a high-cost mortgage with risky features.
· African-Americans and Latinos with good credit (a 660+ FICO score) received a high-cost loan more than three times as often as white borrowers.
· The foreclosure rate for low- and moderate-income African-Americans is about 80 percent higher than for comparable white households.
· Foreclosure rates for higher-income Latinos is more than three times that of higher-income whites.
What do you think? Were minorities set up for foreclosure?
