1999 Best Practices
Success Stories

Program Name:	Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association Fights Mortgage-Lending Discrimination
Program Focus:	Fair Housing
Geographic Area:	MidWest

State:	Colorado
City:	Denver

Executive Summary
Fighting discrimination in mortgage lending is one of the top priorities of the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association (CMLA). The aim of CMLA’s "Best Practice" is to help wipe out the discriminatory practices that occur in mortgage lending. To achieve this, the organization set a five-year goal of lending a billion dollars to minority, low-to-moderate income, and first-time homebuyers.

In 1996, CMLA signed a Fair Lending Best Practices Agreement with HUD. A year later in 1997, CMLA formed a Fair Lending Best Practices Committee to implement a Best Practices Initiative. The committee is comprised of 16 CMLA members who certified their commitment to fair lending practices by signing the best practices agreement.

The committee’s goal is to provide the necessary knowledge and educational materials to help those involved in mortgage lending make fair and appropriate lending decisions. More specifically, the committee focuses on self-testing, outreach to brokers and community organizations, education, training and recruitment for training and job opportunities in the mortgage-lending field. In order to eradicate the problem, CMLA provides ongoing training to members on fair lending practices. Training for mortgage lending staff is critical to combating discrimination and covers topics like underwriting standards, market analysis, and fair housing educational outreach.

Being fair to mortgage seekers and being treated fairly when seeking a mortgage loan, regardless of a person’s race background or socioeconomic status is one of the premises of attacking lending discrimination. The professional housing industry, minorities, first-time homebuyers, and low-to-moderate income families are the primary beneficiaries of the best practice. CMLA initiative has reached several of its goals benefiting a significant number of individuals in the Denver area.

One of the successes of CMLA’s initiative includes the development of a guide to affordable housing, which provides information on lenders and products that targets low and moderate-income borrowers. In addition, CMLA succeeded in distributing job-opening announcements, starting a mentoring program, and creating a consumer brochure on how to obtain mortgage loans.

As part of the mentoring effort, the CMLA committee met with Denver Public School personnel to discuss a curriculum covering the home-buying process and credit management. A guide to the two proceeding topics will be written and distributed to high schools within the Denver Public School system.

According to Ron Wilcox, Executive Director of CMLA, "Organizational efforts of the committee presented initial challenges, however, the commitment of those involved in the initiative was the driving force to overcome all obstacles." The key participants in the development of this best practice includes local mortgage bankers, savings and loan institutions, title companies, insurance agencies, and Denver area professional lending agencies.

Discrimination is an unfortunate byproduct of the cultural diversity in the United States. By educating mortgage lenders, CMLA’s initiative aims to help Denver wipe out discrimination that occurs in the lending industry. CMLA’s success is impressive. Since its inception, the number of mortgages offered to minorities, low-to-moderate income families, and first-time homebuyers has increased dramatically. With $750 million lent by its fourth year, CMLA is on its way to achieving the $1 billion five-year goal that it set for itself.

Partners: Denver Public School System.

Financing: Various funding sources.

Point of Contact: Ron Wilcox, Phone: (303) 773-9565