Subprime Lenders Bear Scrutiny  Posted by: Peter Coy on
September 14, 2005  The Federal Reserve is out with a study that
finds blacks and Hispanics are considerably more likely than
non-Hispanic whites to get subprime mortgage loans. It said the
difference couldn’t be fully explained by differences in
borrowers’ income, loan amounts, and the location of the
property. It raises the possibility that “some minority buyers
may be steered to lenders who typically charge higher prices
[i.e., rates] than the credit characteristics of these borrowers
warrant.”  The Fed said it didn’t have sufficient data to
determine whether or not discrimination was involved. But it
said the issue bears further inquiry. I talked today to two
people with sharply opposing viewpoints, Allen Fishbein of the
Consumer Federation of America, and Douglas Duncan, chief
economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Here’s how they
spun the Fed study in different directions:  Fhisbein, the
consumer guy, said, "This data is going to make a dif