CRL in the News

Data collected in 2014 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act showed that of 1.6 million conventional purchase mortgage loans originated the previous year, less than 15 percent went to borrowers of color, according to Nikitra Bailey, an executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Center for Responsible Lending praised the new rule. Its executive vice president Nikitra Bailey said that when people live in communities of opportunity they are more likely to prosper and when they don't they often end up paying more for mortgages and basic financial services which cripples their ability to save, build wealth, and drains money that could be used to help them climb the economic ladder. "Today's rule will help address a legacy of racial segregation tied to housing patterns that continue to contribute to growing economic inequality. Coupled with the historic Supreme Court

“Proving that when families receive responsible mortgage loans, they are able to build a financial safety net that they can access during challenging times,” said Nikitra Bailey, a CRL executive vice-president.

“These complaints reveal that consumers continue to face significant challenges within the mortgage industry,” said Nikitra Bailey, CRL vice-president. “The goal of clear and transparent lending is not happening for everyone. That should be the standard, rather than the exception. The CFPB is positioned to ensure fairness for all consumers.”

CRL founder and CEO Martin Eakes received Princeton University’s James Madison Medal on Saturday, February 21, 2015 during the university’s 100th anniversary of Alumni Day. Queen Noor of Jordan, Princeton alumna, was also honored. Martin was honored for his work to empower lower-income communities, including low-wealth families and communities of color. He’s done so through the work of the Center for Community Self-Help, a consumer financial services organization dedicated to advancing financial opportunity, security, and wealth and the Center for Responsible Lending, an advocacy organization

Speaking at a January 21, midday rally organized by the National Fair Housing Alliance and held on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, Nikitra Bailey, senior vice-president with CRL said, “Today, the question before the Supreme Court is a simple one: Will the court stand on the side of justice and fairness by upholding disparate impact as a critical tool under the Fair Housing Act, or will it take a step backwards in our nation’s storied history and allow rampant discrimination in housing and finance markets to go unchecked?”

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider whether Texas can be sued for disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act for how it allocated low-income tax credits in Dallas, in a case lawyers say would make it harder to bring claims of unintentional discrimination against companies in a broad swath of industries, including developers, lenders and insurers.

Since the nadir of the housing crisis, the mortgage industry has seen the advent of a vast array of regulations aimed at protecting borrowers and ensuring their ability to repay their loans. Few would argue, however, that unethical banks and originators are entirely extinct, and consumer-advocate groups continue to promote industry reform.

And it is doing just what many economists and consumer groups have urged: making credit more widely available. “Not all subprime lending is abusive. It just happened that all of the abuses happened in the subprime space,” said Nikitra Bailey, an executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “The regulators now have to be really vigilant to make sure people are getting appropriate loans and they don’t allow the subprime market to get back out of hand.”

“It is concerning that families of color remain underserved in our current mortgage system,” said Nikitra Bailey, executive vice-president with the Center for Responsible Lending (CLR). “Owning a home remains an important building block for families to create economic stability. Thus, the primary and secondary mortgage markets have a responsibility to ensure that all Americans who are qualified can access responsible mortgage credit.”