redlining

Neighborhood-based lending denial

Redlining is the discriminatory practice of denying services—especially mortgages and insurance—to residents of certain neighborhoods, typically based on racial or ethnic composition.

The term comes from the red lines drawn on maps by banks and insurers to mark areas deemed too risky for investment.

Though outlawed, the practice's effects persist in patterns of urban poverty and segregation: Redlining in the 1940s shaped the neighborhoods we see today.

More broadly, redlining describes any systematic exclusion based on location or demographics.

discrimination

racial discrimination

Prejudice based on ethnicity

housing discriminationUnequal treatment in property access
loan denialRefusal to lend money
credit denialRefusal to lend

insurance denial · disinvestment · systemic racism · institutional racism · racial bias · prejudice · disparate impact · fair housing · racial covenants · steering

finance

mortgage

Secured home loan

underwritingRisk evaluation and acceptance
creditworthinessAbility to repay debts
loanBorrowed money repaid later

interest rate · foreclosure · lender · borrower · collateral · appraisal · equity · refinancing · FHA · VA loans

segregation

ghetto

Segregated urban quarter

inner cityDense central metropolitan zone
white flightDemographic shift toward segregated areas
sundown townsSegregated communities expelling minorities nightly

Jim Crow · apartheid · ethnic enclave · housing projects · urban decay · hypersegregation · color line · de facto segregation

urbanism

urban renewal

Revitalizing decayed city areas

blightPlant disease causing decay
slumsImpoverished, crowded districts
disinvestmentWithdrawing capital from assets

neighborhood decline · deterioration · gentrification · displacement · deindustrialization · brownfield · food deserts · environmental racism · pollution · highway construction

mapping

color-coded

Marked by hue

hazardousLikely to cause injury
decliningDecreasing in strength
desirableWorth having or seeking

grading · zones · districts · boundaries · demarcation · appraisal · property values · real estate · cartographic · surveying

Categories

correctionscorrection, corrections, fix, fixing, rectification
civil rightsequal protection, equal rights, Civil Rights Act, right to life, Voting Rights Act
discriminationracism, systemic discrimination, Jim Crow laws, sexism, racial harassment
racismracism, racial bias, white supremacy, racial discrimination, bigotry
financial biascredit denial, loan denial, fair lending, interest rates, loan rates
housing historyland grants, homesteading, zoning laws, deed restrictions, housing bubble

Opposites

lending access

redliningfair lending

Nondiscriminatory loan provision

credit access · mortgage approval

fair housing policy

redliningfair housing

Antidiscrimination laws for rentals

housing integration · open housing · desegregation · housing equity

investment strategy

redliningcommunity investment

Resources supporting local areas

community development · urban renewal · gentrification

Family

redline, red line, redlined, redlines

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Mostly American · Timeless · Negative · Rated PG