Banks Step Up Lending In Low-Income Areas; Study Finds More Loans Going to Wards 7, 8
District neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River appear to have won the attention of local financial institutions, according to a study released yesterday that shows mortgage lending activity increased between 1988 and 1990 in these predominantly minority and low-income communities.</br></br>The housing study, funded by the District government, found that despite a dramatic decrease in city-wide mortgage lending over the past three years, lending activity east of the Anacostia was "remarkably stable."</br></br>From 1989 to 1990, overall mortgage lending activity in the city decreased by 18 percent, to $198 million from $243 million, largely because of the local recession. However, in Wards 7 and 8, the only city jurisdictions located east of the Anacostia, mortgage lending increased from 1989 to 1990, to $9.2 million from $8 million.</br></br>The increase in lending in these neighborhoods "may be a reflection of the priority status which has been afforded neighborhoods east of the Anacostia," the study concluded. For decades, residents of these neighborhoods have complained that local financial institutions have ignored their credit needs.</br></br>Lillian Curley, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Planning & Housing Association, the nonprofit housing advocacy group that conducted the study for the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, said she was pleasantly surprised by the findings. She added, however, that "there is still room for improvement." "While the banks are beginning to pay attention to these neighborhoods, we're still not pleased with their performance," she said. "The impact is not great enough."