Gregory D. Squires is a research professor and professor emeritus in the sociology department at George Washington University. He is also a member of the Philadelphia Home Appraisal Bias Task Force.
It is essential to place the central focus on race, to bring nondepository mortgage lenders under the Community Reinvestment Act umbrella and to address bias in home appraisals.
Laws like the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act require banks to report detailed demographics of borrowers to ensure fair lending practices. If banks are serious about promoting diversity, then they should commit to revealing similar details about their own employees.
The bar to prove discriminatory patterns is so high that plaintiffs would have slim odds of winning lawsuits against housing providers.
The White House's efforts to loosen equality requirements in lending run counter to the widespread demand for racial justice. Congress must act.
The agency issued a fair housing proposal last month that would perpetuate segregation and make it harder to detect discrimination.
Revamping the doctrine of disparate impact doctrine, as HUD proposes, would gut fair housing enforcement.
Threats to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's future became more real with Donald Trump's victory, but all the outrage over the bureau's policies is overblown.