On October 31, 2023, the NY AG Letitia James released a report detailing racial disparities in homeownership and financing throughout NY while calling to enhance the state's anti-discrimination law, the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL).
The Report highlights that mortgage applicants of color are denied mortgages at nearly double the rate of white applicants, regardless of credit score, income, size of the loan, and other factors. Plus, they are more likely to be charged higher interest rates on their loans and less likely to be approved to refinance to lower rates. These higher costs total over $200 million extra to minorities.
The Report calls for the strengthening the NYSHRL to explicitly cover disparate impact discrimination based on race, including increased enforcement against lenders. In fact, it has a 3 step plan:
- Obtain increased $$ for government agencies to conduct fair lending work.
- Strengthen NYSHRL to prohibit lenders from engaging in discrimination any practice by requiring lenders to have a legitimate and nondiscriminatory justification for their actions.
- Passing Senate Bill 795 to prohibit unfair business practices.
If you'd like to read more about the report click here.
