The president of a state mortgage trade group has apologized to Quicken Loans Inc. for statements he was quoted as making for a news story about discrimination.
In the article, which was published by Michigan Radio, data from The Center for Investigative Reporting) and the Associated Press was cited pointing to ongoing mortgage discrimination against blacks and Hispanics.
According to the data, a pattern of greater denial rates for people of color than for their white counterparts was found in the conventional mortgage market.
However, the Mortgage Bankers issued a statement
calling the report “deeply flawed” because it failed to consider several key components like a borrower’s credit history, debt-to-income ratio and loan-to-value ratio. In addition, mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration — a program “designed specifically to help borrowers with lower credit scores and small down payments” — were excluded from the study.
In the Michigan Radio story, the three top lenders to black applicants — Bank of America Corp., Quicken and Huntington National Bank — were reported to have a much higher denial rate to blacks than the average for all lenders.
Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association President Jim Wickham reportedly told the writer he
believes some lenders like Detroit-based Quicken with massive advertising campaigns like its Rocket Mortgage encourage everyone to apply — skewing the results.
“So their messaging to the American consumer is, getting a mortgage is easy and everyone should try,” Wickham was quoted as saying. “They’re going to have a lot more denials because they’re asking everyone to try because they say it’s easy.”
But in a written statement issued Wednesday, Wickham
called the study “misguided” and apologized for his comments.
He said he did not recognize the intent of the article, did not thoroughly research the issue and wasn’t prepared for the misguided questions.
“I am embarrassed [by] my comments about Quicken Loans, which were shared in a very brief interview and used negatively in the article,” he stated. “It was completely out of line for me to tell anyone, let alone a reporter, that Quicken Loans skewed HMDA data by using a ‘shotgun approach’ to encourage consumers to apply for financing with Rocket Mortgage.”
Wickham additionally said he
mis-characterized Quicken’s marketing and intent by saying it advertises getting a mortgage is easy and everyone should try.
“In this instance, I failed a long-standing and highly valued member of the MMLA,” he added. “This was an enormous mistake and I want to offer my most sincere apologies to Quicken Loans and its team members who have worked tirelessly to both transform the mortgage process and revitalize the city of Detroit.”
