Last week Unites States Senators reintroduced the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act to help bring down costs for renters and buyers, level the playing field so working families everywhere can find a decent place to live at a decent price, reduce exclusionary zoning laws, and take a step towards addressing the effects of decades of housing discrimination on communities of color.

A report released by the Department of Metropolitan Development and a national nonprofit recommends the city enact policies such as making the new rent assistance program permanent and supporting the development of community land trusts to prevent displacement.

The Black-white wealth gap has widened over the past decade-plus: The typical Black household currently has less than a quarter (23.3%) of the wealth of a typical white household, down from more than a third (34.6%) before the Great Recession.

“You can’t call it anything but redlining: public sector reinforcing private-sector discrimination.”

The OCC today granted conditional approval for a national trust bank charter to New York-based Paxos National Trust. Paxos—a cryptocurrency firm that proposed to provide “a range of services associated with digital assets” including custody services—will operate as an non-depository trust bank.

The move toward expanded digital services, pressures arising from the pandemic and a desire to cut costs has led to thousands of bank branches to close on both sides of the Atlantic, a pattern that seems irreversible to many observers.

Bicameral Legislation Would Produce Nearly 3 Million New Housing Units, Reduce Rents by 10% with No Deficit Impact; Bill Marks Important Step to Address the Racial Wealth Gap and Reduce Exclusionary Zoning Laws

A 2019 report by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition identified Washington as the nation’s most intensely gentrified city between the years 2000 and 2013, finding at least 20,000 Black residents had been displaced.