BUFFALO, N.Y. — Black applicants are twice as likely to be denied a home mortgage as the overall population in Erie and Niagara counties, an Investigative Post analysis has found.
What’s more, the region’s 18 percent rejection rate for Black applicants in 2022 was higher than in all but a handful of other major metro areas nationally.
The gap between the denial rate for Black applicants and the overall mortgage denial rate in the Erie-Niagara region – 18 percent vs. 9 percent – was the widest found in the top 50 metro areas. You can read the full story on Investigative Post's website.
Editor's Note:
KeyBank is mentioned in this article and issued this statement to Investigative Post:
“We do not redline in Buffalo or anywhere else we do business,” KeyBank’s statement said. “Specifically in Buffalo, we have seen positive trends in our home lending performance within majority-minority communities and with Black borrowers.”