Buffett's mortgage companies found to cater to white clients

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Berkshire Hathaway's mortgage business has the hallmarks of one that could be prosecuted for "failure to serve" under the Fair Housing Act, according to Eric Halperin, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw fair lending cases during President Barack Obama's first term. That's when "you take a series of actions that ensure you don't get applications from people of color," he said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/buffetts-mortgage-companies-found-to-cater-to-white-clients/ar-AAwH1ua?ocid=spartanntp&pfr=1

[Johnny2X2X]

1. The deck is stacked against minorities

Home lending, car lending, job applications, and the justice system. All well documented to show systemic bias against minorities.

Getting the interest rate your credit rating deserves is a given for white America.

I can tell you how these places operate, take those auto dealerships that cater to credit "risks". They get people in the door, they tell them they'll get them a car, no worries, then they pull their credit. Doesn't matter what the credit score is, 520, 650, 740, it's the same story, "Oh, jeesh, I'm really sorry Ms. Johnson, your credit score is just not good enough for us to get you a car today, I tell you what though, I'll try one last thing, let me go talk to my manager." "Ms. Johnson, great news, my manager says we have a new program that will work for you, let's go look at some cars you could qualify for under this program."

My wife and I have a close friend who was scammed exactly like this. Her car broke down and was not repairable, she needed a new vehicle or she'd lose her job. Thought she had bad credit so she went into a place in town like this. She went through all of this and spent a few hours in there having her anxiety throttled up. She walked out with a Ford Focus with 90,000 miles on it already, on a lease that cost her $450 a month. I did not make a typo, she's paying $450 a month for an economy car already with 90K in miles, and signed a service agreement that says she can only service it at their shop. The contract is so binding a lawyer she talked said there is no way out. And get this, if she's 5 days late on her payment, they have a kill switch installed on the car and they disable it.

The kicker is I would have helped her buy a car if she asked. And we ran her credit score, 660, plenty good enough to buy a good used car from a reputable dealer with no money down even and an interest rate under 6%.

These places are the equivalent of payday loan companies now.

[mythology]

2. An odd title on the article

What with it's a suggestion.

Also saying applicants had the same income doesn't mean they have the same resources. The net wealth gap is substantially higher than the income gap. Certainly some of that would be related to owning a home and building equity in that, but it's also in things like student loan debt, being able to get down payment help from your parents, access to 401k funds (even if you don't use it to help fund a down payment the mortgage people want to know about it), etc. Looking at just income isn't necessarily proof that a loan is a good or bad idea.

I'm not really sure how to fix that. The problem developed over centuries. Handing a stack of money over won't necessarily solve the problem. People have a problem with affirmative action. And Republicans seem to want to do whatever they can to hose minorities.