WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Nikitra Bailey, an Executive Vice President at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), testified at a virtual hearing held by the House Financial Services entitled “Justice for All: Achieving Racial Equity Through Fair Access to Housing and Financial Services: Testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.”
In her testimony, Bailey highlighted our nation’s discriminatory housing policies as the cause of many systemic injustices and discussed the need to implement more policies that ensure equity for Black and brown communities.
“Much work remains in the financial services industry to ensure equity for Black and brown communities. The system’s success depends on equitable treatment for families long denied access, especially in the mortgage market,” said Bailey in her testimony. “Today’s mortgage market serves only the wealthiest of borrowers despite ongoing support from the Federal Reserve with purchases of $40 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities per month. Hardworking families, many of whom are employed as essential workers and have placed their lives on the line during the pandemic, are unable to refinance their mortgages and lower their monthly payments to offset COVID’s losses.”
Read Bailey’s full written and oral testimony and watch the hearing.
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Press Contact: Vincenza.Previte@responsiblelending.org