During the four months from October 2005 to January 2006, the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston (Fair Housing Center) conducted a series of investigations to determine the extent and nature of discrimination against African American, Latino, Asian, and Caribbean homebuyers seeking mortgages in Boston. The Fair Housing Center used trained volunteers to call and visit banks and mortgage companies to record their experiences. Overall, the Fair Housing Center found differences in treatment which disadvantaged the homebuyer of color in 9 of the 20 matched paired tests conducted, or 45%.

Click here to read the full report.

An investigation into the sales practices of major real estate companies across the region conducted by the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston revealed that African American and Latino homebuyers experience disadvantageous treatment in half of their attempts to purchase homes in Greater Bostons suburbs. The results of the 18 month audit are contained in a report entitled, "You Don't Know What You're Missing."

Between January 2004 and May 2005, the Fair Housing Center conducted two series of tests to gauge the presence of discrimination against African American and Latino homebuyers in greater Boston. The Fair Housing Center used trained volunteers to call and visit real estate offices of large chain realtors in 14 cities and towns across the greater Boston region. Overall, the Fair Housing Center found a pattern of differences in treatment that disadvantaged homebuyers of color in 17 of the 36 matched paired tests.

Click here to read the full report.

This study shows that residential segregation can’t be blamed on affordability alone.

In 2003, Fair Housing Center Director David Harris co-authored a study with Nancy McArdle of the Harvard Civil Rights Project to test the common explanation that people of color simply cannot afford to buy homes in our suburbs. The paper, “More than Money,” analyzed census data on homeownership and HMDA data on recent mortgages to determine the extent to which the region’s ongoing segregation can be explained by a disparity in the values/prices of homes people of color own and those owned by whites. We found that African American and Latino homebuyers are greatly over-represented in certain areas, even after accounting for affordability. Yet in 80 percent of cities and towns, the number of African American and Latino homebuyers was less than half what would predict based on affordability alone. These data mirror those of Stuart. The study found that this simple notion of “affordability” does not explain the ongoing and frequently documented patterns of racial concentration and segregation.

Between February and April 2002, the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston conducted a study of housing discrimination against Latino home seekers in the area's rental market. The study relied on telephone testing of housing providers. In all, the FHCGB conducted 50 matched pair tests.

The FHCGB found evidence of discrimination against Latino home seekers in 26 of the 50 paired tests conducted, or 52%. A review of the ways in which discrimination occurred shows that most often, Latino home seekers were less likely to have access to agents and access to view units than white testers. This form of discrimination occurred in over 40% of the tests.

For a copy of the complete report, please contact the Center.