Fair Lending

Through workshops, conferences, investigation of civil rights complaints, systemic "testing," education and outreach, fair housing planning and "best practice" compliance initiatives, NCRC Fair Housing provides technical assistance to our members in rural, suburban and urban communities to promote economic justice and equal housing opportunity in our nation.

NCRC Fair Housing is currently focusing it's activities on increasing our members capacity to challenge discrimination, creating a anti-predatory lending member network to challenge discriminatory lending, and to build community lender partnerships that celebrate good business and access to credit.

The mission of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) is to increase fair and equal access to credit, capital, and banking services and products because discrimination is illegal, unjust, and detrimental to the economic growth and well being of our society. NCRC is a HUD Qualified Fair Housing Organization. Seeking to support long-term solutions, NCRC provides resources, knowledge and skills to build community and individual net wealth.

NCRC is at the vanguard of a growing movement in which community leaders in rural and urban areas across the nation are becoming educated about, and active in, efforts to affect the flow of capital and the provision of fair housing and fair lending services in their neighborhoods.

NCRC has worked to make fair housing prevalent in all communities, to increase the capacity of neighborhood-based organizations, and to promote community-lender partnerships. These goals have been accomplished through fair lending testing, research, client counseling, investigating predatory lending practices, pro-integration activities, education and outreach programs, and private enforcement. NCRC Fair Lending professional staff have testified on Capital Hill, served as a resource to both the private and public sector, and are invited as "experts" to speak at conferences througout the nation.

NCRC Fair Lending News

July 26 , 2007 -- NCRC Files Civl Rights Lawsuit Against Accredited Home Lenders Holding Company for Discrimination Against MInorities Seeking Mortgages for Affordable Housing.
>Read Press Release here...
>Read Full Complaint here...


May 22, 2007 -- NCRC Campaign Challenges Lenders on Policies and Actions Including Redlining & Limiting Access to Credit& Homeownership to Native Americas and Persons with Disabilities

>Read Press Release here...
>Read Franklin Bank complaint here...
>Read ComUnity complaint here...
>Read Guaranteed Rate complaint here...
>Read Hyperion Capital compliant here...

May 17, 2007 -- NCRC and Aegis Mortgage Announce Resolution of Fair Lending Complaint
National settlement ends lending restrictions on row homes, tribal communities, low-moderate income communities and people with disabilities.
>Read Press Release here...
>Read the full settlement here...

May 9, 2007 -- NCRC Files Civil Rights Case Against Novastar Financial
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition charges that the subprime lender discriminated against minorities seeking housing in row house neighborhoods and adult foster care in urban areas and on American Indian Reservations.
>Read Press Release here...
>Read entire case here...

NCRC Fair Lending Partnership Activities

NCRC Fair Housing provides workshops and facilitates partnerships meetings throughout the country. The workshops discuss fair lending laws and civil rights; fair housing; discrimination in advertising, marketing, accommodations, and accessibility; fair housing and fair lending data analysis; and, community needs and building partnerships.

NCRC's partnership meetings between community-based organizations and lenders cover the following agenda items: review of local work plans and goals; roles and responsibilities of credible partners; assessing community needs; identification and discussion of impediments to fair housing and fair lending, and their solutions; and, assembling an action plan.

NCRC Anti-Predatory Lending Toolkit

In March of 2002 NCRC Fair Housing published NCRCís Anti-Predatory Lending Toolkit - Second Edition. This manual reviews the state of fair housing law, how predatory lending manifests itself, case developments, the relationship between civil rights, CRA and predatory lending, and proposed and enacted state and local law. A PDF copy of the toolkit can be downloaded from the publication section of this site.

NCRC Fair Lending Testing & "Mystery Shopping"

NCRC has received a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Housing Initiatives Program Private Enforcement Initiative Grant to implement an innovative national sub-prime fair lending compliance initiative. NCRC will use the investigative technique of "testing" in cooperation with our members to challenge discriminatory sub-prime lending practices in six metropolitan areas.

NCRC, working in collaboration with our members and other key civil rights organizations, has expanded our fair lending compliance initiatives in order to proactively challenge discrimination and predatory lending in the sub-prime lending market. This "carrot and stick" approach celebrate best practice and community lending partnerships while policing those who violate the law.

NCRC and our members are uniquely qualified to serve as "private attorney generals" in the struggle for economic justice and responsible lending in the sub-prime marketplace, and in fact, NCRC is actively engaged in the fight to ensure equal access to credit regardless of an individuals or a communities demographics and expanding the capacity of our members to pursue civil rights violations. For more information about this initiative, and NCRC's other "mystery shopping" best practice programs, please contact David Berenbaum, Senior Vice President - Program and Director of Civil Rights at (202) 628-8866.

Similarly, NCRC Fair Housing has produced a manual on mortgage lending testing and sub-prime testing which is being used by member organizations. The manual provides instruction for individuals participating as testers to develop evidence of discriminatory lending practices and is designed to be a precursor to the methodology and materials proposed in this initiative.

For more information about NCRC's Civil Rights Initiatives, Please contact:

Michael D. Mitchell,  Director of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity

NCRC Indian Country Fair Lending Initiative

A new partnership between the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) promises to protect more than one million Native Americans nationwide from predatory loans and housing discrimination.

NAIHC has joined forces with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) to promote model anti-predatory lending legislation, as well as other initiatives to reduce the high levels of discrimination and subprime lending found in Indian country. In addition to future protection, current Native American victims will become eligible for recasting of predatory loans via a "Consumer Rescue Fund." The announcement was made at NAIHC's annual convention in San Diego, on Monday, June 17, 2002.

The partnership includes the following initiatives:
· NCRC (through NAIHC) will introduce its model anti-predatory lending bill to tribal councils.
· NAIHC will promote these initiatives to its 400 tribal housing authority members.
· NCRC will provide hands-on training on fair lending/fair housing, at two or three NAIHC locations, including the San Diego convention, to educate tribal housing staff.
· NCRC will roll out its Consumer Rescue Fund Initiative.
· NAIHC will incorporate awareness of the Consumer Rescue Fund in NAIHC communications, and as part of its well-established homebuyer education programs.

NAIHC Chairman Chester Carl said, "The NCRC and NAIHC partnership provides concrete tools to halt abusive lending to Native Americans, who are especially vulnerable to predatory lenders. Because many areas of Indian country are remote, and banks are scarce, choices for Indian country homebuyers are slim. This creates an opportunity for abuse."

Predatory lending is rapidly increasing in America, especially in minority and lower-income communities. The likelihood of predatory lending is greatest in communities in which subprime and manufactured home lenders have cornered the market, leaving borrowers with few alternatives to high cost loans. David Berenbaum, NCRC's Senior V.P. - Policy & Director of Civil Rights, noted that "on a national level, NCRC found that high cost lenders were 2.7 times more likely to make conventional home mortgage loans to Native Americans than whites in 2000. In some states, the disparity is even greater. In New Mexico, for instance, high cost lenders were 4 times more likely to issue mortgages to Native Americans than whites."

John Taylor, President and CEO of NCRC stated, "We have broken many treaties with Native Americans. Our country is now breaking the treaty to protect the American dream of homeownership in Indian country. NCRC is proud to join NAIHC in providing tools to safeguard homeownership."