The Color of Credit

The Color of Credit
Author: Stephen L. Ross
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2002-11-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780262264334

An analysis of current findings on mortgage-lending discrimination and suggestions for new procedures to improve its detection. In 2000, homeownership in the United States stood at an all-time high of 67.4 percent, but the homeownership rate was more than 50 percent higher for non-Hispanic whites than for blacks or Hispanics. Homeownership is the most common method for wealth accumulation and is viewed as critical for access to the most desirable communities and most comprehensive public services. Homeownership and mortgage lending are linked, of course, as the vast majority of home purchases are made with the help of a mortgage loan. Barriers to obtaining a mortgage represent obstacles to attaining the American dream of owning one's own home. These barriers take on added urgency when they are related to race or ethnicity. In this book Stephen Ross and John Yinger discuss what has been learned about mortgage-lending discrimination in recent years. They re-analyze existing loan-approval and loan-performance data and devise new tests for detecting discrimination in contemporary mortgage markets. They provide an in-depth review of the 1996 Boston Fed Study and its critics, along with new evidence that the minority-white loan-approval disparities in the Boston data represent discrimination, not variation in underwriting standards that can be justified on business grounds. Their analysis also reveals several major weaknesses in the current fair-lending enforcement system, namely, that it entirely overlooks one of the two main types of discrimination (disparate impact), misses many cases of the other main type (disparate treatment), and insulates some discriminating lenders from investigation. Ross and Yinger devise new procedures to overcome these weaknesses and show how the procedures can also be applied to discrimination in loan-pricing and credit-scoring.

The Color of Money

The Color of Money
Author: Mehrsa Baradaran
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2017-09-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0674982304

“Read this book. It explains so much about the moment...Beautiful, heartbreaking work.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates “A deep accounting of how America got to a point where a median white family has 13 times more wealth than the median black family.” —The Atlantic “Extraordinary...Baradaran focuses on a part of the American story that’s often ignored: the way African Americans were locked out of the financial engines that create wealth in America.” —Ezra Klein When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, the black community owned less than 1 percent of the total wealth in America. More than 150 years later, that number has barely budged. The Color of Money seeks to explain the stubborn persistence of this racial wealth gap by focusing on the generators of wealth in the black community: black banks. With the civil rights movement in full swing, President Nixon promoted “black capitalism,” a plan to support black banks and minority-owned businesses. But the catch-22 of black banking is that the very institutions needed to help communities escape the deep poverty caused by discrimination and segregation inevitably became victims of that same poverty. In this timely and eye-opening account, Baradaran challenges the long-standing belief that black communities could ever really hope to accumulate wealth in a segregated economy. “Black capitalism has not improved the economic lives of black people, and Baradaran deftly explains the reasons why.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “A must read for anyone interested in closing America’s racial wealth gap.” —Black Perspectives

Credit Where It's Due

Credit Where It's Due
Author: Frederick F. Wherry
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2019-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1610448847

An estimated 45 million adults in the U.S. lack a credit score at time when credit invisibility can reduce one’s ability to rent a home, find employment, or secure a mortgage or loan. As a result, individuals without credit—who are disproportionately African American and Latino—often lead separate and unequal financial lives. Yet, as sociologists and public policy experts Frederick Wherry, Kristin Seefeldt, and Anthony Alvarez argue, many people who are not recognized within the financial system engage in behaviors that indicate their credit worthiness. How might institutions acknowledge these practices and help these people emerge from the financial shadows? In Credit Where It’s Due, the authors evaluate an innovative model of credit-building and advocate for a new understanding of financial citizenship, or participation in a financial system that fosters social belonging, dignity, and respect. Wherry, Seefeldt, and Alvarez tell the story of the Mission Asset Fund, a San Francisco-based organization that assists mostly low- and moderate-income people of color with building credit. The Mission Asset Fund facilitates zero-interest lending circles, which have been practiced by generations of immigrants, but have gone largely unrecognized by mainstream financial institutions. Participants decide how the circles are run and how they will use their loans, and the organization reports their clients’ lending activity to credit bureaus. As the authors show, this system not only helps clients build credit, but also allows them to manage debt with dignity, have some say in the creation of financial products, and reaffirm their sense of social membership. The authors delve into the history of racial wealth inequality in the U.S. to show that for many black and Latino households, credit invisibility is not simply a matter of individual choices or inadequate financial education. Rather, financial marginalization is the result of historical policies that enabled predatory lending, discriminatory banking and housing practices, and the rollback of regulatory protections for first-time homeowners. To rectify these inequalities, the authors propose common sense regulations to protect consumers from abuse alongside new initiatives that provide seed capital for every child, create affordable short-term loans, and ensure that financial institutions treat low- and moderate-income clients with equal respect. By situating the successes of the Mission Asset Fund in the larger history of credit and debt, Credit Where It’s Due shows how to prioritize financial citizenship for all.

The Color of Money

The Color of Money
Author: Sheila Ards
Publisher:
Total Pages: 18
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

This article examines the myth of bad credit in the Black community. Historically, Blacks have had higher savings rates and lower use of credit than Whites. Discrimination in lending led to an aversion to credit. Later, Blacks believed their credit to be bad, even among many better qualified Black loan applicants. The authors find that there is no statistically significant difference in the average level of “bad credit” among Blacks and Whites who have been turned down for loans or who have not applied for loans, as seen in national data sets measuring wealth and expenditures. Contrary to conventional wisdom, no statistically significant difference exists in bad credit rates between Black and White households at the lowest and highest wealth levels. The authors contend that the observed differences in the bad credit rates between Blacks and Whites in the middle wealth range are attributable to different treatment of Blacks and Whites in credit markets.

Complex Mortgages (CM)

Complex Mortgages (CM)
Author: Gene Amromin
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2011
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1437987850

CM became a popular borrowing instrument during the bullish housing market of the early 2000s but vanished rapidly during the subsequent downturn. These non-traditional loans (interest only, negative amortization, and teaser mortgages) enable households to postpone loan repayment compared to traditional mortgages and hence relax borrowing constraints. But, they increase household leverage and heighten dependence on mortgage refinancing. CM were chosen by prime borrowers with high income levels seeking to purchase expensive houses relative to their incomes. Borrowers with CM experience substantially higher ex post default rates than borrowers with traditional mortgages with similar characteristics. Illus. This is a print on demand report.

The Elements of Color

The Elements of Color
Author: Johannes Itten
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 96
Release: 1970
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780471289296

Includes color circles, spheres, and scales as well as suggested exercises.

Color My Credit

Color My Credit
Author: Alisa Glutz
Publisher: Color My Credit
Total Pages:
Release: 2016-09-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692783528

Personal finance, money management, business & economics, credit reports, FICO scores, the cost of credit... each impacts our lifestyle and financial decisions, yet far too few Americans are aware of little-known secrets to our credit scoring system. Even fewer adults know it is easier than they imagine to effectively re-build credit, quickly and without a lot of pain-with the right help. Expert Alisa Glutz has a proven method to "color" credit; she is passionate to create a movement where people everywhere can take advantage of a fun, but effective approach, to repair bad credit that stems from life events such as identity theft, bankruptcies, personal financial upsets, and myriad unknowns that negatively impact vital financial opportunities. If you have ever wondered any of those things, then don't worry; you have come to the right place. Color My Credit will answer all your questions-and even some you don't know to ask! Her new release, Color My Credit, is designed to enlighten readers; compiled with tips, insider secrets, and advice and action steps to help you repair your credit quickly and easily. It is the ultimate guide for readers drowning in the despair of bad credit. It is designed to remove the guilt and trauma associated with limited choices based on low credit scores, and transform your life forever. Glutz helps you make course corrections in spending, credit errors, debt ratios, etc.-all of which can ultimately help you save thousands of dollars in interest paid, interest rates, and myriad other financial choices that are all predicated by your credit score. Awareness equals choices. The information in Color My Credit is timely; we are coming out of a long seven-year stretch where people had little opportunity to modify their damaged scores. The author is bold in her assertions of what can happen next for you, if you but step into the arena, learn the credit laws that both protect and impact you, and take advantage of the changing tides that are occurring now. In addition to the print version of the book, readers are encouraged to download a complimentary workbook that includes sample credit reports, forms, templates, letter samples, and other helpful tools to participate in this great Color My Credit Movement! This book is for you... if you have mediocre to downright bad credit-or, like many consumers-have no idea what is on your credit report because you are too afraid to look. It is for you if you want to better manage your credit to take advantage of better employment, reduced insurance costs, better pricing on banking and mortgage loans and more. This book is for you... if you have only an inkling of how the role credit plays in your financial life. Improved credit scores can open the doors for the best of everything financial. Color My Credit helps you put together and action plan not only for boosting your credit score, but learning exactly what steps are necessary to maintain it. The author answers many critical questions, such as how to request credit reports from the three nationwide reporting agencies, understanding why your score is low, and how to quickly recolor your credit score (FICO) picture! ADVANCE PRAISE Credit... A subject we all know is important, but let's face it, how many of us actually want to know about and /or take the time to improve our credit score? Color My Credit by Alisa Glutz, lets us know that it can be done, one just needs to begin, take things step by step as outlined in her book and big things can and will happen. Whether it just be making a marked improvement in one's score all the way up to buying that dream home. The relationship of credit to one's overall, ongoing financial plan is so important. What's comforting is knowing that there is someone like Alisa that has the unique combination of knowledge, know-how, and desire to help others. Matthew C. Munn Registered Investment Advisor First Financial Equity Corporation

The 21-Day Financial Fast

The 21-Day Financial Fast
Author: Michelle Singletary
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2014-01-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0310338468

Whether you're living paycheck to paycheck or just trying to make smarter financial choices, let award-winning writer and Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary show you the practical steps you need to take for the financial peace you long for. In The 21-Day Financial Fast, Michelle proposes a field-tested financial challenge: for twenty-one days, put away your credit cards and buy only the barest essentials. What happens next will forever change the way you think about wealth. With Michelle's guidance, you'll discover how to: Break bad spending habits Plot a course to become debt-free with the Debt Dash Plan Avoid the temptation of overspending for college Learn how to prepare elderly relatives and yourself for future long-term care expenses Be prepared for any contingency with a Life Happens Fund Stop worrying about money and find the priceless power of financial peace Join the thousands of others who have already discovered practical ways to achieve financial freedom and experience what it truly means to live a life of financial peace and prosperity.

How the Other Half Banks

How the Other Half Banks
Author: Mehrsa Baradaran
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2015-10-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0674495446

The United States has two separate banking systems today—one serving the well-to-do and another exploiting everyone else. How the Other Half Banks contributes to the growing conversation on American inequality by highlighting one of its prime causes: unequal credit. Mehrsa Baradaran examines how a significant portion of the population, deserted by banks, is forced to wander through a Wild West of payday lenders and check-cashing services to cover emergency expenses and pay for necessities—all thanks to deregulation that began in the 1970s and continues decades later. “Baradaran argues persuasively that the banking industry, fattened on public subsidies (including too-big-to-fail bailouts), owes low-income families a better deal...How the Other Half Banks is well researched and clearly written...The bankers who fully understand the system are heavily invested in it. Books like this are written for the rest of us.” —Nancy Folbre, New York Times Book Review “How the Other Half Banks tells an important story, one in which we have allowed the profit motives of banks to trump the public interest.” —Lisa J. Servon, American Prospect