Mortgage Study Found Race Discrimination, Not Redlining
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The Boston Federal Reserve Bank study on discrimination in mortgage lending is misrepresented in “Redlining Under Attack” (front page, Aug. 30). The study found discrimination in mortgage lending based on race, not on geography (redlining), as you assert. Indeed, in a follow-up effort using the study’s data we found no redlining in Boston. You imply that our findings are questionable because the study did not include all the relevant variables in the decision to grant a mortgage, was overinfluenced by two minority-owned institutions and was invalidated by the published analysis of David Horne of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In our view, all three observations are incorrect. The Boston Fed collected and tested for all the variables that loan officers, underwriters and economists working for other regulators (including the F.D.I.C.) believed were important to the lending decision. Contrary to your assertion, we included variables measuring the applicant’s ability to pay for closing costs: liquid assets and net wealth. We found these variables to have no effect on the findings of discrimination. More : query.nytimes.com |