The Price of Denial: Examining the Health Consequences of Mortgage Lending Bias in Michigan Metro Areas
摘要
Anti-Black mortgage lending discrimination (MLD) has resulted in homeownership disparities among White and Black households. This study examines the association between MLD and health opportunities, based on various neighborhood determinants of health (e.g., employment, education, and housing status), in Michigan’s three largest metropolitan areas. Multilevel models using data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Census from 2015 to 2019 were used to examine the Black-White odds ratio of mortgage denial. An association analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the Black-White odds ratio of mortgage denial and neighborhood health opportunities. Loan denial for Black mortgage applicants was 1.99 (95% CI1.87, 2.12) times more likely than for White applicants. Neighborhoods with greater anti-Black MLD had fewer harmful environmental exposures, greater health insurance coverage, and better housing and socio-economic conditions. Anti-Black MLD remains a common practice and supports the assertion that Black home-seekers experience greater MLD in neighborhoods with better opportunities for health compared to White home-seekers, who access these benefits more freely. Greater protections against MLD—including increasing oversight of the data reporting requirements and improving mortgage access for Black households—are needed to promote health equity.