Fair Lending Task Force Abstract

The Massachusetts Fair Lending Task Force was established in 2005 to promote and ensure fair and equitable mortgage lending to all individuals. The Task Force included representatives from the Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA), the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC), the Massachusetts Credit Union League (MCUL), the Massachusetts Mortgage Association (MMA), the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association (MMBA), state and federal regulatory agencies and community-based organizations.1 While much progress has been made over the last several years in increasing the level of approved loans to minority group borrowers, the Task Force has worked to better understand the reasons why black and Latino homebuyers continue to have higher denial rates than white homebuyers – including potential areas of discrimination and/or unequal treatment. The Task Force also focused on developing strategies and recommendations to assist in reducing these denial rates and the disparity ratio between the denial rates for minority and white homebuyers. This report is intended to share the findings of the Task Force’s work and to provide recommendations to banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, community-based organizations, public officials and others on steps that they, individually and in partnership with others, can take to increase lending to minority group members while ensuring that all homebuyers have equal access to credit.