FHA Redlining Systematically Denies Mortgages in Black Neighborhoods

Throughout the 1960s, the Federal Housing Administration and private lenders maintained racially explicit underwriting guidelines that refused to guarantee mortgages in or near Black neighborhoods (redlining). Black applicants were denied loans at rates far exceeding white applicants with identical financials. The practice was federally endorsed until the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which was weakly enforced.