Governor Kathy Hochul has released the findings from the Department of Financial Services Redlining Report for Long Island, Rochester and Syracuse.
The report was done to help the effort to combat housing discrimination. DFS has secured agreements with two mortgage lenders that will help improve the service for their entire communities.
The report illuminates continued racial disparities in mortgage lending practices on Long Island, in Rochester and in Syracuse as part of an ongoing statewide inquiry into redlining. The announcement follows a previously published Department of Financial Services report that identified redlining and other forms of housing discrimination by mortgage lenders, particularly non-depository lenders, in majority-minority neighborhoods in Buffalo.
“This report sheds a light on the barriers that communities of color, who have historically faced discrimination when seeking a mortgage, continue to face when it comes to making the dream of homeownership a reality,” Governor Hochul said. “With our state in the midst of a housing crisis, practices like redlining not only restrict New Yorkers’ access to homeownership, but also threaten affordability statewide. My administration remains committed to combatting housing discrimination in New York State and exploring solutions, like the expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act, to ensure that the path to homeownership is available to all.”
The Department of Financial Services previously issued a report identifying redlining in the Buffalo metropolitan area and the outcome of a related enforcement action. The Department of Financial Services’ inquiry into mortgage lending in the Syracuse and Rochester metropolitan areas and in Nassau and Suffolk counties again revealed a persistent lack of lending to people of color and in majority-minority neighborhoods.
After analyzing the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the DFS found the following data:
In Nassau county, where the population is 41.8 percent non-white, on average, lenders make 35.32 percent of their loans to borrowers identifying as people of color. Among lenders operating in the county, lending to borrowers identifying as people of color ranges from 14.9 percent to 50.22 percent.
In Suffolk county, where the population is 33.7 percent non-white, on average, lenders make 22.44 percent of their loans to borrowers identifying as people of color. Among lenders operating in the county, lending to borrowers identifying as people of color ranges from 13.07 percent to 36.85 percent.
In the Rochester metro area, where 23.9 percent of the population is non-white, on average lenders make 11.32 percent of their loans to borrowers identifying as people of color, less than half of what would be expected based solely on population make-up.
Similarly, in the Syracuse metro area, 18.7 percent of the population is non-white, but on average lenders make 8.67 percent of their loans to borrowers identifying as people of color.
Samantha edits our personal finance and consumer news section. Have a question or lead? Send it to [email protected].