Rocket Mortgage bills itself as “the largest home lender in America”. But it’s track record with black customers is less than stellar, and it’s clear to me that the organization has racist policies that force higher interest rates onto customers of my color. Take my elderly contractor’s case.
All she’s trying to do is get a lower interest rate mortgage than the 6 percent she’s currently paying. Considering all of the boasting about lower rates being available, and all of the photos of African Americans on their website that promise good treatment, the reality is a constant forcing of completely ridiculous loan terms on my Mom. Without going into too much detail, she is an independent contractor with my Zennie62Media company. She’s paid a monthly rate for her input on content creation.
That amount she’s making from my registered and in-good-standing Delaware C-corp was enough to put in into a loan category with a rate she wanted. Fine.
Then, all of a sudden, Rocket Mortgage tells her that, even after getting the pay stubs and her name is on the corporate website, as well as our payroll report, they did not count what she was being paid!
Again, Rocket Mortgage simply rejected that my elderly contractor’s had a legal job. Got that? Got that?
That’s crazy.
My elderly contractor’s completely upset over the matter, so I elected to blog about this and in the process, do some checking.
I learned this from CBS News:
A recent analysis of nearly 7 million 30-year mortgages by University of California at Berkeley researchers found that black and Latino applicants were charged higher interest — an average of nearly 0.08% — and heavier refinance fees when compared with white borrowers. That was in face-to-face transactions. When applying online or through an app, minorities still ended up paying more, though terms were slightly better than when borrowing in person.
And guess what company was out in front in discrimination against blacks? Yep. Rocket Mortgage. In fact, Rocket Mortgage was said to be the leader and because of its status as the largest lender in America.
CBS News:
Regis Hadiaris, Quicken’s vice president of Rocket Mortgage, said “race and ethnicity is not a factor used in the Rocket Mortgage calculations for loans.” To determine loan terms, the firm assesses a borrower’s credit score, income, total assets and debt-to-income ratio, as well as factoring in a home’s worth and loan-to-value ratio.
Uh, not true, because, again in my elderly contractor’s case, many of the interactions were on the phone – the persons on the other end clearly have an idea of who my mother is, as well as her records and financial profile. There should be no reason why she can’t get a lower interest loan – save for racism and ageism.
Rocket Mortgage should stop lying to the public and make Black Lives Matter where it counts: with the same low interest deal someone white would get.
Stay tuned.