OAKLAND, Calif., April 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Insight Center for Community and Economic Development's Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative will host a webinar on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 on how the national mortgage settlement will impact communities of color. The webinar will present new data about the effects of the foreclosure crisis on these communities.
WHO:
Welcome:
Anne Price, director, Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative
Introduction:
Janis Bowdler, director, Wealth Building Policy Project, National Council of La Raza
Overview, Impact of Mortgage Crisis on Communities of Color:
Jim Carr, chief business officer, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Featured Presentation, The National Mortgage Settlement and Communities of Color:
Doug Gansler, Maryland State Attorney General
WHEN:
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
RSVP:
To register for the webinar, contact Andrew Sousa at andrews@globalpolicysolutions.com or by phone at (202) 265-5111.
The mortgage crisis affected Americans of all backgrounds but communities of color were hardest hit by deceptive lending practices. African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans were more likely to receive high-priced loans than white borrowers with the same credit scores and experienced racial disparities in subprime lending in all regions of the country. This has resulted in higher rates of foreclosures in these communities and has contributed to the widening of the racial wealth gap.
In February of 2012, 49 state attorneys general reached a settlement with five of the nation's largest banks which acknowledges that the loan servicers violated the law by routinely signing foreclosure documents without the presence of a notary public and without knowing whether the information in the documents was factual. The settlement provides up to $25 billion in relief to distressed borrowers and direct payments to states and the federal government.
The Insight Center for Community Economic Development is a national research, consulting and legal organization dedicated to developing and promoting innovative solutions that help people and communities become, and remain, economically secure. It is leading a national effort to close the racial wealth gap in the United States for the next generation. For more information on the Center, go to www.insightcced.org and www.racialwealthgap.org.
The Insight Center for Community Economic Development logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12264
