The First Tennessee Bank building is located between Market and Broad Streets in downtown Chattanooga.Chattanooga banks award only a fraction of the home purchase loans they originate to black families, and black families’ applications for home loans are rejected at a much higher rate than those of white and Hispanic families, according to a new study released today.
While white families in Chattanooga dominate the lending market, Chattanooga Organized for Action found in its report that from 2011-2014, predominantly black neighborhoods were lending deserts – barring families from the most common way to build wealth. The report – “Whose Reinvestment? The Failures of Equitable Home Lending in Chattanooga” – took a four-year snapshot of the city’s mortgage lending practices.
“Our banks aren’t even dealing with the working class,” said Michael Gilliland, COA board chairman. “It’s not just a lack of loans, but the total absence of banks in black neighborhoods. Banks don’t have a plan. They are required to do this, but nobody is calling them out on it.”