WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey spoke before the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance to testify on the urgent need to address racial discrimination within the nation’s housing finance system. The title of the hearing was called, “A Review of the State of and Barriers to Minority Homeownership.”
In her testimony, Bailey specifically focused on the homeownership rate gap between whites and people of color, the racial wealth gap and policy solutions to create equity in mortgage lending, and stressed that all creditworthy borrowers should have access to safe and affordable mortgage loans.
“Our nation’s housing finance system was built with discrimination as the cornerstone. The mortgage ecosystem favored whites and set them up for success while curtailing equity of opportunity for families of color. Today’s racial wealth gap is the outcome of this discrimination,” said Bailey in her testimony. “Remediating the federal government’s discrimination in mortgage lending can level the playing field and create more equity in homeownership opportunity. This action can drive shared prosperity for all Americans.”
Read a copy of Bailey’s oral and written testimonies.
View video of the subcommittee hearing.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Vincenza Previte at:vincenza.previte@responsiblelending.org.