Female mortgage applicants are less likely to have their loans approved than their male counterparts, according to a new report by the Woodstock Institute, prompting researchers to call for further investigation into gender discrimination in lending practices.
After studying 2010 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
data for the Chicago six county region, which includes Cook, DuPage,
Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the Woodstock Institute found than “female applicants overall were about 8 percent less likely to have
purchase mortgages originated and about 21 percent less likely to have
refinance mortgages originated than were male applicants.”
Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new report from the Woodstock Institute has revealed. But with new ordinances like the Cook County Land Bank Authority, the Windy City may be headed in the right direction.
Last
year, Chicago’s six county region saw the highest year-over-year growth
in completed foreclosure auctions since the beginning of the foreclosure
crisis in 2008, according to the Woodstock Institute report.
Foreclosure auctions, which indicate the foreclosure process is
finished, grew by 73.8 percent, from 20,281 auctions in 2011 to 35,244
auctions in 2012.
More than half of Illinois’ private sector employees do not have
access to a retirement savings plan through their jobs, according to a
new study released by the Woodstock Institute.
The
Chicago-based nonprofit, a research and policy organization focused on
fair lending, wealth creation, and financial systems reform, analyzed
data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and the
Employee Benefits Research Institute.
Foreclosure filings increased by exactly one percent in the city of
Chicago between the first six months of 2011 and first half of 2012,
according to data
compiled by the Woodstock Institute. But the jump in foreclosures was
more dramatic in a handful of struggling, mostly black neighborhoods on
the South Side.
Filings in West Pullman were up 58.7 percent from
155 to 246 in the first half of this year compared to 2011. The number
of foreclosures jumped in Englewood 24.1 percent from 141 to 175 and
climbed in Calumet Heights 54 percent from 50 to 77. Read more »
A racial divide continues to perpetuate among those seeking a
mortgage loan, according to a new study. The report alleges that
mortgage lenders have steered more black and Latino borrowers towards
government-backed home loans by limiting their access to more
conventional financing.
An analysis of mortgage lending in seven cities found that loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
were made to both minority borrowers and those residing in
predominantly non-white neighborhoods at a much higher rate than white
customers.
Government has tried, with limited success, to address each new
wave of the foreclosure crisis. In Chicago and Cook County, the focus is
increasingly on the surging number of properties vacated because of
foreclosure. Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer (D-Chicago) proposed in May an ambitious way to deal with the problem.
Illinois foreclosures shot up 29 percent in May compared to the previous
month and are 54 percent higher than May 2011, according to data provided
by Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac. Illinois has the fifth-highest
foreclosure rate nationally.
Rockford and the Chicago area are experiencing some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, with Chicago's figure being more twice that of the national average at one in 107 housing units, according to data released by Realty Trac last week.
As foreclosures continue to plague the city and surrounding areas, the vacant properties left in their wake are wreaking havoc on the safety and security of their respective neighborhoods. In April, a dead body was found in a vacant house in Humboldt Park, leaving neighbors wondering why the property wasn’t maintained -- and prompting Action Now to hold a rally in front of the building.
Female mortgage applicants are less likely to have their loans approved than their male counterparts, according to a new 
Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new 
More than half of Illinois’ private sector employees do not have
access to a retirement savings plan through their jobs, according to a
new study released by the Woodstock Institute.
A racial divide continues to perpetuate among those seeking a
mortgage loan, according to a new study. The report alleges that
mortgage lenders have steered more black and Latino borrowers towards
government-backed home loans by limiting their access to more
conventional financing.
Rockford and the Chicago area are experiencing some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, with Chicago's figure being more twice that of the national average at one in 107 housing units, according to 