Indepth analysis of persistant problems in the field of community development. Woodstock's research reports contribute to the body of knowledge used by policymakers and community development practitioners.
This study finds that minorities and lower-income people who use these
"fringe banks" pay higher prices for basic financial services. In
addition to demonstrating the high costs charged by CEs, this Alert
makes recommendations aimed at encouraging greater use of banks by
these CE users, at reducing excessive fees charged by CEs, and at
increasing consumer awareness of the relative costs of financial
services.
The report includes ten case studies of community finance initiatives in the US and the EU. These highlight the different features of community finance organisations, their target group and their core activities in order to identify what aspects of their operation are integral to creating successful interventions in deprived communities. The objective of these case studies is to highlight particular aspects of their activities and operating environment that are instructive for CDF in the UK.
Woodstock Institute provided case studies of US CDFIs.
Jim Campen, Saara Nafici, Adam Rust, Geoff Smith, Kevin Stein, and Barbara van Kerkhove
This report demonstrates that African-American and Latino borrowers are paying more than their white counterparts for home purchase loans in six geographic areas: Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Rochester. This review of federal lending data shows dramatic disparities. For example, in New York, African-American borrowers were five times more likely to receive higher-cost home purchase loans than were white borrowers.
California Reinvestment Coalition, Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Empire Justice Center, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, and Woodstock Institute
Describes the benefits of collaboration between CDFIs and mainstream
financial institutions; regulatory and legislative opportunities for
building and strengthening such partnerships, and an analysis of the
types of relationships that have evolved in recent years. Detailed case
studies describe how creative partnerships have developed between a
variety of CDFIs and conventional lenders.
