Big gaps in NYC home loans: Search your own neighborhood here
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Owning a home is the American dream for many, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for certain people to do that -- especially in some of the most diverse communities.
Our news teams at ABC News investigated inequities in housing across the country and found some of the biggest gaps are in New York City.
It's an old problem that's showing up in new ways.
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We've seen it happen to the streets of Harlem and along the Brooklyn waterfront in Williamsburg, but now, new neighborhoods in the boroughs are getting gentrified.
Wealthier people are moving in, and, in effect, pushing some longtime residents out.
"We're talking about every day hard working New Yorkers," said Rob Solano, of the Churches United for Fair Housing.
It's his job to help families find affordable housing in Brooklyn, which he says is becoming more difficult.
"It's an incredible injustice that's happening to our communities of color," he said. "It should be fixed right now."
7 On Your Side Investigates found one of the newest areas to undergo a revitalization is the Ocean Hill neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A subway stop connects it to other areas of the city, and newer upscale housing developments are going up alongside old buildings.
Search your own neighborhood to see who's getting approved for home mortgages and who's not:
Even with the pandemic, rent prices in the neighborhood have gone up by more than 12% over the past six years, making even more people want to own.
7 On Your Side found more minority residents are denied home mortgages in the area than anywhere else in the entire New York City region.
For example, Black applicants had a 100% denial rate for home mortgages over a two-year period from 2018 to 2019.
"As their neighborhood changes right before their eyes, they get no loans," Solano said. "And the white people get more loans."
He says many of the big banks are turning people down for loans, something he calls modern day redlining.
"On paper, they have the same resources, same application as someone else," he said. "The only difference is one is white and one is Black."
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They are finding some help, though, at smaller community based credit unions.
At Transfiguration Parish Federal Credit Union in Brooklyn, they've granted loans to the same people who have been rejected by big banks.
The credit union's approval system isn't automated, and they're not held accountable by shareholders but by a volunteer board that lives in the community.
"If I see any opportunity for the members to get a loan, we grant it to them," said Eladio Lamboy, of Transfiguration Parish Federal Credit Union. "We give it to them."
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