A 2018 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that “while overt redlining is illegal today, having been prohibited under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, its enduring effect is still evident in the structure of U.S. cities.”

Researchers affiliated with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition sent “mystery shoppers” to banks in the Washington, D.C., area in April and May. They found that white applicants — white men in particular — were significantly more likely to be encouraged to apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans than Black applicants with slightly better financial profiles.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition revealed in its latest study that although the nation’s capital is ranked 13th on the list of “most intensely gentrified” cities from 2013 to 2017 (a drop from ranking first from 2000 to 2012), gentrification remains intense, as community organizations argue the rapid development D.C. has endured continues to push low-income residents out of their communities.

Banks are twice as likely to provide business loans to white applicants than Black ones, and three times as likely to have follow-up meetings with white applicants than more qualified Black applicants (A 2017 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition). Lenders deny mortgages for Black applicants at a rate 80% higher than that of white applicants, according to an analysis of the most recent data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

“The beginning and end of this for me is that the impacts of poverty in my community and across the country are so devastating to our communities and to our residents that we have to find some way to lift people up and provide them with the income that they need,” said Satya Rhodes-Conway, mayor of Madison, Wis., at a virtual event held by MGI and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Madison is currently exploring starting its first guaranteed income pilot program.

In a draft comment not yet submitted but provided to CQ Roll Call, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a pro-consumer group, said it finds the question about online bank deposits “puzzling” because Justice doesn’t currently consider these deposits. It recommends that the department improve its data on those deposits, such as requiring them to be “geocoded,” before including them in DOJ analyses.

But Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said that he has heard from borrowers that lenders are beginning to request that their customers start repaying loans.

“I’ve seen … lenders starting to batten down the hatches and start to push for repayment as possible, maybe less flexibility or less of an open mind about flexibility,” Van Tol said. “I don’t know if that is being driven by a concern over credit losses. I think people know how bad this can get and creditors want to avoid being the ones caught on the short end of the stick.”

Lending practices have long favorited white business owners. In a study about discriminatory banking practices, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that black and Hispanic men who applied for loans faced more scrutiny than their white counterparts, despite having stronger applications. This is backed up by statistics from the US Federal Reserve. Their data shows that banks are twice as likely to reject loan applications from black business owners. Black borrowers also have more difficulty obtaining personal and homeowner loans.

As a result, representatives from HousingNOLA and HousingLOUISIANA – along with partner housing advocacy groups like Enterprise, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority – are calling on elected officials and other community leaders to take several steps toward heading off the foreboding mortgage foreclosure situation and help Louisiana homeowners.

A study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that Philadelphia was one of seven cities that collectively account for nearly half of the gentrification in the entire nation. Out of these, Philadelphia had some of the highest rates of Black displacement.

“This is something that thought leaders, Black leaders, like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and W.E.B. DuBois—all of them have talked about this concept. It’s what led to black Wall Street,” said Sabrina Terry, the director of strategy and development at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).