Jackson Takes On Mortgage Crisis

Speaking at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, the Rev. Jesse Jackson called President Bush's plan to address the foreclosure crisis "very little, very late." Prince George's County has been hit particularly hard by the crisis. (By Mark Gail -- The Washington Post)

In July it was reported that more than 2,300 foreclosures had been reported in the county this year.

A report released in September by the Federal Reserve and other regulators found that minorities throughout the nation were given loans with higher interest rates or charges in greater percentages than white applicants did.

Controlling for various factors, the report found that 30.3 percent of the loans for home purchases by African Americans were higher-cost loans, compared with 17.7 percent of loans for whites. The gap of 12.6 percentage points exceeded the gap of 10 percentage points found in the 2005 survey.

Black borrowers received high-cost loans 52.8 percent of the time when they refinanced home loans last year, compared with 49.3 percent in 2005, the report said.

Hispanic borrowers received high-cost refinancings 37.7 percent of the time, up from 33.8 percent in 2005. The rate for white borrowers was 25.7 percent last year, compared with 21 percent in 2005.

"The incidence of higher-priced lending for blacks and Hispanic white borrowers is notably greater than for non-Hispanic whites," the report said. "Similar patterns are shown in racial and ethnic differences in denial rates."

Figures cited at last night's meeting indicated that foreclosures in Prince George's far exceeded those in other suburban Maryland counties between 2005 and last year.

Zaunder Saucer, who attended the meeting, said she had not realized the disparity was so great. She said she went to learn more and make certain she does not experience such problems.

Staff writer Martin Weil contributed to this report.