Congressman Cleaver Talks Fair Housing

Here's the latest from Kansas City's Congressman on the topic of subprime and beyond . . .

Congressman Cleaver Pens Op-Ed on Fair Housing Act

In light of Congressman Cleaver’s election as Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, please find below his op-ed on the Fair Housing Act, which appeared in Roll Call:

In the lead up to the housing crisis, mortgage lenders engaged in the harmful and reckless practice of reverse red-lining, in which they targeted minority communities and individuals for subprime mortgages. While it was not immediately apparent that any particular agent of these mortgage lenders was guilty of maliciously discriminating against minority borrowers, studies and lawsuits have found minority borrowers were disproportionately given subprime mortgages, even after controlling for creditworthiness.

This practice of reverse red-lining set minority households up to be disproportionately affected by the negative effects of the housing crisis. These harmful effects persist today. Minority households and communities are being left behind as the modest housing recovery picks up. I am not sure how many members of Congress lived in public housing, but I did. My family, including my three sisters and mother and father, lived in a shack, a two-room shack. When I was a child, we moved to public housing and we were glad to do it. My father worked three jobs to get us out of public housing and into our first home, where my father still resides. We achieved our American dream. When tainted by devious practices and disparate impact, the dream of home ownership can turn into a nightmare.

Read the full op-ed here: All Americans Deserve Access to Fair Housing

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