Trina Shanks’ Editorial in Detroit Free Press Encourages Home Ownership in Detroit

The conventional mortgage market is not working in Detroit, writes Professor Trina Shanks in a Detroit Free Press editorial. Shanks and her co-authors recommend new programs to support homebuyer education programs and establish a single-family residential rehabilitation fund. “We know the private mortgage market does not serve Detroit in the same way as it does adjacent communities. The evidence is indisputable,” writes Shanks. The article cites data reviewed by the Center for Equitable Family and Community Well-Being that shows that vast swath of Detroit, identified by neighborhood, see very little mortgage lending activity in relation to residential property sales. “We are in a once in a lifetime moment, where substantive federal investments are flowing into Detroit. Let's focus these infrastructure investments in a way that benefits Detroiters.