America's Wire Releases Exclusive Story on Study Documenting Mortgage Discrimination in the US Since Housing Crisis Began

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Feb 09, 2011, 07:57 ET

**America's Wire Stories Now Available to Associated Press Member Newspapers**

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Wire today released a story documenting that African-Americans and Hispanics received significantly fewer mortgages than whites between 2004 and 2009, citing a study by ComplianceTech that was obtained exclusively by America's Wire. ComplianceTech analyzes mortgage data for government, non-profit organizations and financial institutions.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Kenneth J. Cooper, reports in the story that African-Americans and Hispanics borrowed 62 percent less to buy or refinance homes in 2009 than they borrowed before the housing market crashed in 2004, while mortgages to whites declined only 17 percent, and Asians obtaining nearly an equal amount in mortgages.

"Whites were about twice as likely as African-Americans and Hispanics to be approved for prime mortgages with the lowest interest rates, while members of the two largest minority groups were two to four times more likely to receive subprime loans, which have higher rates," Mr. Cooper wrote. "By contrast, the disparities were much narrower for loans insured by the government's Federal Housing Administration, which has attracted a growing number of borrowers during the credit crunch."

Furthermore, the story reports that the study, which is a computer analysis of data collected by the federal government under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, also concludes that mortgage loans to minorities were not the cause of the housing crisis, as some critics have contended.

This story, as well as others, are available free of charge from America's Wire. Go to www.Americaswire.org, sign up for a trial subscription and media outlets can download our stories and publish them free of charge. As part of a new partnership with the Associated Press, America's Wire articles are also available to AP members. To download the package of stories on mortgage discrimination, AP members must go to the Not for Profit section of Marketplace on the home page of AP Exchange. Members must be entitled for Marketplace in AP Exchange to view and download the content. If your media outlet is not enabled for Marketplace, AP members should contact their local bureau chief.

America's Wire provides newspapers, community papers, websites, ethnic publications and wire services with stories that report on structural racism, and the communities impacted by it. America's Wire provides a minimum of two enterprise stories a month by our staff reporters, Mr. Cooper and Marjorie Valbrun, also an award-winning journalist. We also provide articles by freelance writers, as well as commentaries from experts on a variety of topics.

Other stories currently available on America's Wire include:

Efforts to include more people of color in genetic research
A report on hospital closings in minority communities
Marisa Trevino's commentary on increases in hate crimes against Latinos
The impact of black prosecutors across the country
Q & A with Shirley J. Wilcher, director of American Association for Affirmative Action
The impact of residential segregation on health outcomes
Conservatives blaming the poor for being poor
The declining number of black males at colleges and universities
Tim Wise, a white crusader against racism
States easing restrictions on ex-convicts

America's Wire is operated by the Maynard Institute's Media Center on Structural Racism. Our news service provides enterprising content for wire services, mainstream newspapers, ethnic/community papers, magazines and websites. The professionally reported, written and edited stories help readers comprehend the challenges that people of color face from racial injustices. America's Wire is made possible through a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.