smanas@imfpubs.com 

The New York Department of Financial Services said it has unearthed racial disparities in mortgage lending practices on suburban Long Island and upstate in the cities of Rochester and Syracuse.

Using Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data from 2016 to 2021, the NYDFS found that in Nassau County, 35.3% of loans were made to borrowers of color while the county is 41.8% nonwhite. In Suffolk, which is 33.7% nonwhite, the cohort received 22.4% of home mortgages. Nassau and Suffolk are Long Island counties.

The Rochester metro area is 23.9% nonwhite but lenders operating there made only 11.3% of their loans to borrowers in that demographic. For the Syracuse metro area the readings were 18.7% and 8.7% respectively.

Compiling its findings in a new report, the NYDFS noted it did not uncover any fair lending law violations but said that Buffalo-based 1st Priority Mortgage and Rochester-based Premium Mortgage Corp. agreed to "reform lending practices and implement programs to ensure better access to historically underserved communities in Western and Central New York."

The regulator said it also had ongoing investigations into other lenders in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Long Island.

It’s Time to Go Digital With Your Lending Process

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