Welcome back from Labor Day weekend, mi gente! We had a few big announcements in the last week, so we’re diving right in: If the Bank of America no-down payment mortgage pilot announced late last week left you pensive, know you’re not alone. TL;DR: Last week, the bank announced a trial program aimed at helping first-time homebuyers in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods by offering mortgages that don’t require down payments, closing costs or minimum credit scores, which have historically been barriers for these two cohorts to gain access to homeownership.
Bank of America also got rid of overdraft fees this year after a horrible track record of siphoning money from black and brown communities for years. I wrote about my experience getting scammed out of almost $1K about 15 years ago. Anyway, they're definitely in crisis communications mode because of these federal regulators scrutinizing (FINALLY) some of these predatory practices. But even if they do the right thing for the right reasons, I'll take it. The question is, with interest rates and home prices so high, how much will this policy actually help. We gotta keep an eye on that. Thanks for writing, Lyanne.
Bank of America also got rid of overdraft fees this year after a horrible track record of siphoning money from black and brown communities for years. I wrote about my experience getting scammed out of almost $1K about 15 years ago. Anyway, they're definitely in crisis communications mode because of these federal regulators scrutinizing (FINALLY) some of these predatory practices. But even if they do the right thing for the right reasons, I'll take it. The question is, with interest rates and home prices so high, how much will this policy actually help. We gotta keep an eye on that. Thanks for writing, Lyanne.