In the realm of financial services,
redlining practices were outlawed in the 1970s by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Community Reinvestment Act and other fair lending pronouncements.
In the Shintech case, the EPA's environmental
redlining rule gave Greenpeace - which has never concerned itself with civil rights issues - another weapon in its international campaign to ban polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic widely used in everything from vinyl siding and door frames to computer keyboards and blood bags.
The Beavers pressed ahead and filed a discrimination and
redlining complaint against Nationwide through Dayton's Human Relations Council, which has a federal contract to investigate alleged Fair Housing Act violations.
In 1977, partially to address the
redlining problem, Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which was created to encourage banks to meet the credit needs of their local communities, including those in low- and moderate-income areas.
This paper focuses instead on "
redlining"--an unwillingness to make loans in neighborhoods with a high minority population.
"It's not enough, for example, for one poor person to get a mortgage in a redlined neighborhood; it is necessary to eliminate the policy of
redlining so that others may benefit."
[sections of] The Justice Department's civil rights division is now investigating several cases of alleged insurance
redlining in cities around the country.
Ludwig has mentioned possibly imposing civil penalties on banks that don't comply with CRA as an approach to dealing with
redlining. Ludwig will also explore revising the CRA compliance review to focus more on a bank's performance.
Have you ever wondered, "Why in every metropolitan area are there areas that need major investment?" And, "How did such deterioration occur?" Answers to these and other disturbing questions about the landscape of urban America are found in From
Redlining to Reinvestment, which addresses the social and economic effects of
redlining in our urban communities.
From inequitable taxes to
redlining by banks to skyrocketing water costs, Council Speaker Peter Vailone, Finance Committee Head Hank Berman, and Housing Committee Head Archie Spigner each stood before a gathering of the Apartment Owners Association (AOA) and declared he understands their special' challenges and frustrations.