According to a report by a coalition of fair housing organizations organized under the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), “banks are discriminating in the treatment of their properties, as they generally take greater care to maintain and secure the properties that they own in white neighborhoods than they do in African-American neighborhoods”[1]. This behavior “raises civil rights concerns,” says NFHA president and CEO Shanna Smith, who contends that banks may be violating the Fair Housing Act if they fail to adequately maintain REO properties in African-American and Latino neighborhoods. The report concludes that failure to maintain properties equally jeopardizes property values and the local tax base in neglected areas.
The report characterized acceptable care as “well-maintained lawns, secured entrances and professional sales marketing”[2]. The NFHA has called on banks and local governments to “take measurable steps to erase the noted disparities.” At the time of publication, there were no official responses from any lenders regarding the NFHA report.
Have you noticed evidence of this trend in your own geographic area?
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[1] http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news24764/report-finds-banks-neglecting-reos-minority-neighborhoods
[2] http://www.washingtoninformer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5866:the-journey-towards-housing-fairness-continues&catid=50:local&Itemid=113