NCRC’s New National Mortgage Analysis Finds Grave Warning Signs For Economic Equity And Data Transparency By Jason Richardson
As a result, the gap between renters and owners is widening. Homeowners are trapped in gilded cages, unable to move due to rising rates, while renters face skyrocketing rents, making it impossible to save for homeownership.The future hinges on local communities. They need to curb the influence of market-distorting investors and build more housing—denser and cheaper than today’s single-family mini-mansions. The local changes the housing market requires to function correctly are only possible with corresponding change at wider and higher levels of market activity and oversight. The problem demands a reconfiguration of housing finance. [Read more]
Views
NCRC and Fintechs Urge Regulators to Use AI to Detect and Eliminate Lending Discrimination
By Bakari Levy
That is why the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and a group of financial technology firms submitted a joint letter urging regulators to offer clear guidelines to lenders on how the usage of new AI fair lending tools could better evaluate disparities in lending. The letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), signed by NCRC, Zest AI, Upstart, Stratyfy and FairPlay, was issued in response to the White House’s Executive Order on AI from October 2023. [Read more]
Research
NCRC Mortgage Market Anaylsis
By NCRC
In 2023, mortgage lending was shaped by rising home prices and a return to historically normal interest rates, creating an unprecedented perfect storm: high values attracted home investors looking for expensive assets and rental revenue, while higher borrowing costs limited the options for homebuyers. [Read more]
News
NCRC Statement On New Bank Merger Rules From DOJ, OCC, And FDIC
By NCRC
"I welcome these moves to better protect the public from harmful mergers, as community advocates have long called for, by ensuring that the needs of everyday people are properly considered in these vital decisions. The regulators’ determination is facing a stark test in the proposed Capital One-Discover merger, which would harm consumers and low-income communities if allowed to proceed."[Read more]
Events
Thriving Communities Grants: Funding Environmental Justice at the Local Level
October 8, 8 - 10 am ET
Join NCRC and Green & Healthy Homes Initiative on Tuesday, October 8 at 10 am ET to learn about EPA Region 3 Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program, a grant program designed to make it easier for small, community-based organizations to access federal environmental justice funds. [Register here]
Health Equity Investments Office Hours October 11, 10 - 11 am ET
Join NCRC’s Director of Health Equity and Impact Devin Thompson for one hour every month for Health Equity Investments Office Hours. A deep dive into a different topic each month focused on the intersections of community-led development, health justice and investor accountability. Hear about work that’s emerging from other cities, share your projects or learn about what’s worked to better align health sector investment to community-identified needs. [Register here]
In The News
Industry Groups Criticise 'Opaque' US Bank M&A Rules
By Elizabeth Korver-Glenn and Sarah Mayorga, The Conversation
For example, a study by the nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition that examined neighborhood change from 2000 through 2013 found that most low- and moderate-income neighborhoods across the United States did not gentrify during that period. Just seven cities – New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Diego and Chicago – accounted for almost half of all neighborhood gentrification nationwide. [Read more]
Rising Rent And Dorm Prices In Dayton
By Emily Mancuso, The Wright State Guardian
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition says, “On average, the study found, Gen Z-ers — born between 1994 and 2000 — will spend about $145,000 on rent by their 30th birthdays, while millennials — born between 1981 and 1996 — spent $127,000 during the same stage of life.” [Read more]
Consumer Advocate, Fintechs Urge CFPB, FHFA To Adopt AI Guidance
By Kate Berry, American Banker
The four fintechs are members of the NCRC's Innovation Council for Financial Inclusion, a forum that discusses and pursues policy goals in which industry and consumer groups are aligned. Machine learning and some "deep learning categories of AI" can be responsibly used to develop underwriting models to help lenders comply with anti-discrimination laws, the letter states. [Read more]
On Our Radar
House Poor: Low-Income Homeowners Struggle In The Shadows
By Daniel McCue, Shelter Force
Rising housing costs are burdening millions of low-income homeowners, a growing trend that was one of the main storylines from this year’s State of the Nation’s Housing report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, where I am a senior research associate. Record-high home prices and stubbornly high interest rates that have priced out all but the highest-income households looking to become homeowners have garnered most of the headlines. Less noted is that rising costs are also putting pressure on a growing number of existing low-income homeowners who have few avenues to turn to for help and whose ability to keep their homes is in jeopardy. [Read more]
JPMorgan Plans To Open Around 100 New Branches In Low-Income Areas
By Alexander Saeedy, Wall Street Journal
Jamie Dimon has a plan to help some of the poorest people in America: build more Chase branches in their towns and cities.
JPMorgan Chase is working on opening nearly 100 new branches in low-income areas around the country, including America’s inner cities and rural towns where banks have been shrinking their footprint for years. [Read more]
Resources
Work And Meet At The Just Economy Club It's aDC hubfor nonprofits and the social sector, around the corner from the White House. Move your team into a private office or host your meetings and events or hang out in the lounge. [Read more]
Learning & Training Hub Register for NCRC's catalog of professional development courses for community development leaders. [Learn more]
Research And Reports We have an extensive library of research and reports that dates back many years! [View all]
Sign And Share The Just Economy Pledge America should not only promise but deliver to all Americans opportunities to build wealth and live well. Sign and share the pledge to help us expand the movement for a Just Economy. [Sign and Share]
Fair Lending Tool Use our interactive tool to produce a report on mortgages, small business lending and bank branch networks for any city, county or metro area in the nation. [Access the tool here]
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