FHFA Acting Director: Years Of Progress In Closing Racial Homeownership Gap Were Erased

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's acting director, Sandra L. Thompson's speech during an FHFA virtual listening session addressed why closing the gap to sustainable homeownership is still a top mission. In her remarks, she revealed that years of progress in closing the racial homeownership and wealth gap were erased during the most recent financial crisis. 

“I served as the FDIC's head of supervision throughout the most recent financial crisis. I witnessed firsthand the consequences of irresponsible lending when hundreds of banks across the country were closed and a record number of homes went into foreclosure,” said Thompson.

“I saw how the borrowers who received unsustainable loans and suspect loan products were devastated in the downturn. And Black and Latino communities were hit especially hard. Years of progress in closing the racial homeownership and wealth gaps were erased as a result. In fact, today the Black-white homeownership gap is wider than it was in the 1960s, when lending discrimination based on race was still legal.”

Thompson continued to say that as a regulator, she knows what expanding access to credit and irresponsible lending looks like. She added that irresponsible lending is not an expansion of access to credit. Acting director Thompson also vowed that the FHFA will continue to protect the financial system and borrowers from irresponsible practices at its regulated entities and business partners. 

Read more from Thompson's speech during the FHFA's virtual listening session on “Closing the Gap to Sustainable Homeownership.”