Mortgage’s focus on DE&I has a new face

She noted the rise of colleagues in other key positions as demonstrable of efforts to close the gap in borrowing to minorities. Statistics speak to the need for lending diversity: Lenders are more likely to deny mortgage loans to people of color than to White people – even with comparable financial profiles – as found in an investigative report by The Markup. Having analyzed more than two million conventional mortgage applications, the news site found that, nationwide, lenders were 40% more likely to reject Latino applicants; 50% more likely to reject Asian and Pacific Islander applicants; 70% more likely to reject Native American borrowers; and 80% more likely to reject Black applicants than their White counterparts.

Yet amid such sobering stats, Christensen sees hope. She is buoyed by other women who have recently been appointed to key positions related to lending diversity, including:

Marcia L. Fudge, former representative for Ohio, who is the 18th secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. “She has been very clear in her wanting to expand equitable access to minority families as far as homeownership is concerned and decrease the racial homeowner gap,” Christensen said. “That is one of her main goals.” She mentioned, too, that Fudge sees down payment assistance as a key component toward that goal.
Sandra Thompson, deputy director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s division of Housing Mission and Goals. In that role, Thompson oversees FHFA’s housing and regulatory policy, financial analysis research and all mission activities for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
Kristy Fercho, chairwoman of the Mortgage Bankers Association. She has a new program she’s unrolled for the MBA called ‘Home Pledge For All’. “It’s a commitment you sign either as a corporation or individual to pledge commitment to increase minority homeownership,” Christensen said.

Christensen spoke to the frustration of conveying the gravity of the lending gap to a mainstream audience: “The dominating news cycles right now are the Ukrainian war, Trump and his rhetoric – is he running, is he not running – and now we have the Roe v. Wade leak from the Supreme Court. So if you’re not talking about those three issues, you’re not going to get prime time coverage. As far as mainstream media is concerned, it’s very hard to talk about boring things like borrowing security. Do the DTI [debt-to-income] rations need to be updated? Are we not including alternative forms of credit to advance homeownership to the minority entrepreneur community? These are not exactly robust issues that the majority of the country cares to learn about, but they are very, very important.”