Are regulators 'asleep at the switch'?

October 16,2020 | By Erickson Ocasio

A top Democrat has slammed financial regulators, accusing them of being “asleep at the switch” as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the housing market and the broader economy. In a letter to leaders at the Federal Reserve, the National Credit Union Administration, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said the agencies were not doing enough to prepare for threats to financial stability. “Your agencies must ensure that our financial system is sage and strong, so that this public health and economic crisis does not turn into a financial crisis,” Brown wrote. “Yet, bank and credit union exposure to deteriorating economic conditions, lax regulation, and the public health risks of managing a financial crisis and resolving failed institutions during a deadly pandemic raise serious financial stability concerns. I am deeply concerned that the system is blinking red and, just as in th

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New MIT data finds Black Americans pay more to be homeowners

October 16,2020 | By Erickson Ocasio

A recent study by the MIT Sloan School has found that Black Americans are paying more to be homeowners, leading to a significant loss of retirement income and exacerbating the wealth gap between the country’s white and Black populations. In “Unequal Costs of Black Homeownership”, authors Michelle Aronowitz, Edward L. Golding, and Jung Hyun Choi assert that higher mortgage interest costs, mortgage insurance premiums, and property taxes all play a role in making homeownership both more expensive and riskier for Black borrowers. Citing data from the Urban Institute, the report’s authors say that if the extra costs paid by African Americans were eliminated, the $130,000 Black-white gap in liquid earnings at retirement would be cut in half. “These inequities make it impossible for black households to build housing wealth at the same rate as white households,” reads the report. “A fair homeownership system must reform

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