Orange County NC Website
Orange County, North Carolina - AIFCH - 2007 <br />technical assistance and research on issues involving civil rights, equal opportunities, or human <br />relations.10 " <br />Staff investigates housing and public accommodations cases, provides education and training <br />on a variety of civil rights, human rights and women's issues including housing discrimination, <br />equal access, sexual harassment, discrimination based on age or disability, gender bias, <br />homophobia, discrimination against emerging communities, etc.'2 <br />6.0 PURPOSE AND PARAMETERS OF COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT <br />For most, achieving the goal of home ownership is contingent upon the ability to obtain a <br />mortgage. However, the issue of color, race, national origin, sex, religion, familial status or <br />disability may still shut the door to home ownership. National studies and litigation continue to <br />show lenders ignoring business in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and minority <br />neighborhoods. <br />These discriminatory policies are holdovers from a past that would not allow loans to people <br />who represented an "inharmonious racial group" to neighborhoods. In the past policies of local <br />lenders, real estate agents and even the federal government (through the Federal Housing <br />Administration and Veterans Administration loan policies) assured that our country would grow. <br />with segregated cities. The most basic right of all Americans, to live where they want and can <br />afford, was denied throughout the housing market. (Please review the Lending Tables located in <br />the Appendix.) <br />6.1 Sub-Prime and Predafiory Lending <br />Mainstream financial institutions have excluded many of the groups targeted by predatory <br />lenders when marketing loan products. Often, such institutions are much less interested in <br />issuing smaller loans. Two types of lenders tend to work with borrowers having difficulty <br />affording a home: sub-prime lenders and predatory lenders. <br />Most sub-prime lenders serve a need by offering credit to consumers who may have credit <br />blemishes or those with "B" or "C" credit. ay contrast, conventional lenders focus their marketing <br />efforts on consumers with few or no blemishes or those with "A/A+" credit. <br />Predatory lenders target specific populations-often low-income, minority, and/or elderly <br />homeowners-with high-pressure marketing techniques, excessive fees and frequent <br />refinancing or "flipping" of. the loan. <br />In these situations, consumers not only pay too much interest for the credit they secure, but are <br />also persuaded to purchase credit, life, and disability insurance products for which they have <br />12 <br />