Agenda - 04-15-2008-3d - Laserfiche WebLink

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