Op-Eds - NFHA

Opinion: The Federal Home Loan banks and the disappearing American dream (American Banker)

Rachel VanArsdale — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 20:28:40 +0000

The Federal Home Loan banks, which were created to democratize homeownership nearly 100 years ago, have been hamstrung by decades-old, automated loan underwriting technology. Mechanisms for enabling homeownership like the Home Loan banks' Mortgage Partner Finance program, which was designed to help lenders reduce their risk exposure, rely on technology crafted more than 30 years ago. While this technology can reasonably predict the delinquency risk of prime borrowers that have deep credit histories and high credit scores, it is woefully inaccurate for all others. Tens of millions of Americans have been unfairly denied homeownership due to fixable inaccuracies in the very technology the banks impose on their ecosystem of lenders.

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Opinion: The Black-White homeownership gap is wider than it was in the ’60s. Here’s how to close it (CNN)

Rachel VanArsdale — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 12:25:00 +0000

It is ironic and fitting that every June, our nation recognizes both Juneteenth and homeownership, which the George W. Bush administration turned into a month-long observance. Juneteenth is the celebration of Black people's liberation and theoretical ability to participate fully in the American Dream. Homeownership — a key driver of American household wealth — is the cornerstone of that dream. Yet today, both the Black-White and Latino-White homeownership gaps are wider than they were before the Fair Housing Act passed in 1968.

The post Opinion: The Black-White homeownership gap is wider than it was in the ’60s. Here’s how to close it (CNN) appeared first on NFHA.

Opinion: Pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (HousingWire)

Rachel VanArsdale — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 22:30:00 +0000

A shortage of affordable starter homes is thwarting aspiring first-time homebuyers and fueling inflation in home prices. At the same time, many urban and rural communities are struggling for stability and vitality. It’s a fact: the homeownership gap between Black and white households is wider now than when the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968.

Read the full op-ed by Bob Walters, Buzz Roberts and Lisa Rice.

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Racial justice isn’t achievable without housing justice (The Hill)

Rachel VanArsdale — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:36:00 +0000

For too many Americans trying to achieve their goal of owning a home, hard work alone is not enough. America should be a nation where all individuals have the same opportunity and chance to get ahead. But too many communities know that isn’t the case. Decades of discriminatory housing industry and government policies have set back Black, Latino, Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander and poor White communities on the journey toward wealth creation, economic opportunity and homeownership.

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Creating equitable infrastructure is essential to addressing racism in our country (The Grio)

electricpulp — Thu, 13 May 2021 14:14:00 +0000

For the first time, Congress has an opportunity to create an infrastructure plan that fairly supports all people, neighborhoods, and communities, but recognizes the important fact that housing is infrastructure. There is no doubt that infrastructure in the U.S. needs a major overhaul.

Read the Full Op-Ed by Lisa Rice and Sherrilyn Ifill.

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Biden Promised Racial Equity, And There’s A Political Tool To Help His Administration Accomplish This (Blavity)

electricpulp — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 14:17:00 +0000

If President Biden wants to fulfill his promise to advance racial equity, he must immediately jettison dangerous policies implemented by the previous administration, who designed them to dismantle civil rights, and preserve one of our nation’s strongest tools for achieving justice — disparate impact.

Read the Full Op-Ed by Lisa Rice.

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How fair housing and COVID-19 intersect (The Hill)

electricpulp — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 14:23:00 +0000

While the medical community has worked valiantly in the fight against a deadly pandemic, policymakers have largely failed to connect the dots between COVID-19 and the biggest driver of overall inequality between whites, and Black and Brown people: residential segregation.

Read the Full Op-Ed by Lisa Rice.

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To Expand Opportunity, We Must Fully Commit to Fair Housing (Morning Consult)

electricpulp — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 14:25:00 +0000

The African principle of Sankofa teaches that to have a strong future, we must bring forth knowledge gained from our past. The United States is at an inflection point on race — including on the fundamental question of housing policy.

In the United States, we continue to uphold exclusionary housing practices, rooted in our segregationist past, that hold back whole communities and stifle economic growth.

Read the Full Op-Ed by Lisa Rice and Nikitra Bailey.

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Opinion: How unfair mortgage and housing practices affect you and your neighborhood — and what can be done about it (MarketWatch)

electricpulp — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 14:27:00 +0000

Just seven days after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed Title VIII — commonly referred to as the Fair Housing Act — of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law. President Johnson considered the law as an homage to the great civil rights leader.

Read the Full Op-Ed by Sanjiv Das and Lisa Rice.

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Commentary: Don’t allow historic anti-redlining law to be weakened (Chicago Tribune)

electricpulp — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 14:29:00 +0000

As a nation, we have a duty to end the lasting legacy of discrimination in housing and mortgage finance that lies at the core of the staggering and enduring wealth gap between whites and Americans of color. The Community Reinvestment Act, a historic civil-rights law enacted in 1977 to stop banks from discriminatory lending practices, is one of our nation’s most important tools for fighting such discrimination.

Read the Full Op-Ed by Janet Murguia, Lisa Rice, and Wade Henderson.

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