National Study Finds Persistent Bias Against Non-White Renters
It also showed that landlords are less likely to reply to applicants with Black and Latino names.
A recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study found that landlords are less likely to respond to applicants with African American and Latino sounding names when renting properties. This contributes to rising residential segregation. In the largest study of rental discrimination, fictitious renters with names associated with White, African American, or Hispanic identities, were used. The research tracked over 25,000 interactions between those people and 8,476 property managers in 50 of the largest U.S. cities. Renters with White-sounding name received a 60% response rate, compared to a 54% and 57% response rate for those with African American and Hispanic identities. Other research have documented similar trends in the buyer’s market.
Research has found that appraisers consistently undervalue homes in Black and Latino neighborhoods. In the NBER analysis, it was found that a lack of a response to a renter of color decreased the likelihood that someone of that ethnic group would live in a property by around 17%. The most discrimination for Black renters was identified in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Louisville. Latinos in Louisville, Houston, and Providence, Rhode Island, faced the strongest constraints, according to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
