This December we had an excellent turnout for our 50th anniversary celebration of the 1975 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)!
The event featured three panels packed with experts and industry leaders who discussed the history behind HMDA, its role in fair housing and lending efforts, and what can be done to ensure the law better fulfills its goal of reversing disinvestment in lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
The movement that would ensure the successful passage of HMDA began when Chicago communities impacted by redlining organized across racial lines and sparked a nationwide coalition demanding transparency and accountability from the financial sector. These neighborhoods saw firsthand the damage wrought by lenders’ refusal to serve their communities and set out to identify the problem, its causes, and its solutions. Gale Cincotta, a trailblazing community activist from the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, emerged as the leader of this grassroots movement.
The national movement against redlining, spearheaded by National People’s Action, directly spurred the creation of two landmark laws: the 1975 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act.
Available below are video recordings of all 3 panels (also accessible on YouTube here), closing comments from award-winning journalist and author Natalie Moore, and an excerpted clip from the Shame of Chicago docuseries on the origins of HMDA.
Panel 1: “Where We Were”
Panel 1, “Where We Were,” features key figures in the fight against redlining discussing how neighborhoods organized to successfully take on the complex and powerful financial system.
Moderated by WVON’s Rufus Williams, panelists include:
- Calvin Bradford, National People’s Action
- Shelley Davis, South Shore Synergy
- Bob Kuttner, American Prospect & former US Senate staffer
- Ted Wysocki, Founding Editor of the DISCLOSURE newsletter
Panel 2: “Where We Are”
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data remains an indispensable tool for combatting the lending discrimination that leaves entire neighborhoods without access to the investments and financial services they need to build wealth. Fair housing organizations around the country painstakingly analyze complex datasets to identify disparities in mortgage lending and demand reinvestment in historically redlined areas.
In panel 2, fair housing experts unpack the dynamic role HMDA data plays in highlighting community inequities, holding financial institutions accountable, and driving policy change.
Moderated by Sharon Legenza, Executive Director of Housing Action Illinois, panelists include:
- Amy Nelson, Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana
- Bethany Sanchez, Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
- Anthony Simpkins, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago
Panel 3: “Where We Are Going” and Closing Comments
In 2020, Chicago reporters used HMDA data to discover lenders had invested more in a single white neighborhood than all Black neighborhoods combined. Despite 50 years of access to lending data, combatting redlining remains a daunting and urgent task.
In the final panel celebrating 50 years of HMDA, panelists share their insights on the successes and stumbling blocks of HMDA data as a tool for promoting racial equity and economic justice. These lessons provide critical insight into the future of fair housing and the fight to close the racial wealth gap.
Moderated by Daniel Ash, President of the Field Foundation of Illinois, panelists include:
- Laurie Benner, National Fair Housing Alliance
- Kristin Faust, Illinois Housing Development Authority
- Dave Uejio, Prosperity Now, former Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Closing comments given by award-winning journalist Natalie Moore.
Origins of the 1975 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
Featuring footage from the Shame of Chicago docuseries created by Bruce Orenstein.
