Law Commons^™

Things Fall Apart (Next Door): Discriminatory Maintenance And Decreased Home Values As The Next Fair Housing Battleground, Michelle Y. Ewert

Brooklyn Law Review

Banks that once preyed on communities of color through predatory lending now drive property values down by failing to adequately maintain foreclosed properties they own in those neighborhoods. Declining home values are especially destructive in communities of color because the family home is often a household’s most significant asset and, thus, the key to accumulating wealth and creating opportunity. This article argues that neighboring homeowners whose property values have declined as a result of banks’ discriminatory maintenance of foreclosed properties have standing to sue those banks under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). This article explores historic barriers to homeownership in …