Report outlines barriers to Black homeownership in Cincinnati

Notes

The Youth & Human Services Committee meets every other Tuesday in City Council Chambers (Room 300) at 12:30 p.m. The meeting, which was made available via Facebook and YouTube as well as CitiCable and local cable, was called to order by Committee Chair Anna Albi. The meeting was adjourned about 1:56 p.m.

Members present

Council Member Anna Albi, chair

Council Member Evan Nolan, vice chair

Council Member Ryan James

Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney

Timeline

• 36 minutes: HOME Update on Roadmap for Increasing Black Homeownership
• 34 minutes: GCRA report on the state of housing in Black Cincinnati
• 16  minutes: Motions 1, 2 and 3 discussed as a package

Presentation 1: HOME Update on Roadmap for increasing Black Homeownership

Elisabeth Risch, Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) executive director, and La Tonya Springs, HOME assistant director, previewed a report to be released in early March that paints a dour picture of Black homeownership in Cincinnati, as compared to Black homeownership in Hamilton County or the Cincinnati metro area.

Census data released in late January shows the gap in Black-white homeownership for Blacks in Cincinnati is 26%, while the gap in Hamilton County is 36% and 33% in the Cincinnati metro area, Risch said. The data comes from the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates.

She said the highest Black homeownership is found outside the city of Cincinnati, according to 2024 homeownership data maintained by HOME, the private non-profit civil rights organization founded in 1968 whose mission is to eliminate unlawful discrimination in housing.

According to their presentation, key findings from 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data indicate that Black households are underrepresented in the mortgage lending process and that neighborhoods where Black households are found have much less access to mortgage lending and over half the loans made in Black communities go to white applicants. Black borrowers are denied loans at 1.9 times the rate of white borrowers, and upper-income Black borrowers are denied loans at 3.8 times the rate of upper-income white borrowers.

Risch called the findings “startling,” noting, “we know there is continuing discrimination within the home mortgage industry.”

Springs said 35 organizations have endorsed the Roadmap for Increasing Black Homeownership, a document that suggests policy recommendations that would increase Black homeownership. Those recommendations include expanding fair and non-predatory lending, creating a loan and grant fund to support existing homeowners, creating more inclusive zoning, providing property tax relief, and modifying tax abatement incentives.

Risch, responding to Albi, who asked why Cincinnati has such low Black homeownership compared to Hamilton County, identified housing supply and housing stock as reasons.

Springs noted that Blacks who have grown up in Cincinnati often look to the suburbs when they are ready to start families. It’s supply-and-demand and affordability issues, she said, noting that homes outside the city are cheaper.

When asked to comment on zoning reform, Risch said the Black homeownership report recommends allowing for more entry-level homeownership, more middle housing (two-family, three-family, four-family).

Municipalities also could create responsible banking ordinances, Risch said, and figure out how to use their deposits to make sure lending institutions are doing the right thing.

Council Member Nolan, when Risch told the committee the Black-white homeownership gap outside Cincinnati has decreased because of increases in the overall number of Black homeownership, said, “The optics show that surrounding counties are kicking our butts.”

Risch said HOME has had conversations in the last year with the area’s top 15 lenders. The conclusion: They are doing a good job, but not necessarily reaching Black people who want to buy homes.

Risch said she has heard from lenders that poor credit and debt (student loans, for example) are the main reasons for rejecting Black home buyers: “That has made a lot of people ineligible,” she said, noting there are other ways people can prove they can afford a mortgage, such as on-time payments for automobiles or monthly utilities. “We definitely see some discrimination that is happening, and we continue to investigate,” she said.

“It’s expensive across the region,” Risch said. “What it costs to become a homeowner has increased.”

The committee approved and filed the report from HOME.

Presentation 2: Greater Cincinnati Realtist Association

Felcia Bell, Greater Cincinnati Realtist Association president, said GCRA’s mission for 2026 is “closing the gap” between Black and white homeownership. GCRA wants to increase the number of home ownership events by at least 50%, offer more monthly opportunities to educate potential home buyers, and continue working with the city, Urban League, HOME and faith-based organizations.

“We see ourselves as answers to the problem, part of the solution to close the gap to access to Black homeownership through programs such as Cincinnati’s American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI).

“Houses are sitting on the market longer, making it easier for our clients to bid on properties,” Bell said, but the issue is affordability (the average median price for a home in metro Cincinnati is $300,000, according to GCRA).

Other issues, such as high unemployment among Black women, who tend to be major wage earners in the home, and institutional buyers of homes are also affecting the Black homeownership gap. Still more hurdles involve the amount of earnest money required and the cost of a Realtor (as of July 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors, there is no longer a guarantee that the seller will pay the buyer’s agent).

“We have to prepare our buyers to pay their salesperson,” Bell said. “That can be a huge barrier to homeownership,” noting that downpayment assistance programs do not cover that cost.

Roy Hackworth, who manages the city’s ADDI program, said the city has streamlined its process, which includes moving to an online system for handling paperwork.

When asked what the city could do to help, Bell suggested a partnership with GCRA and conversations with lending institutions.

Bell said a three-year Port Authority-GCRA partnership has led to GCRA listing more than 60 homes. She has no data to show whether buyers have been Black but said she is sure of it. Kyria Graves (GCRA first vice president), said he is seeing a lot of clients – including his family – beginning to move back into the city.

A third suggestion, Bell said, is to create more Black appraisers. Appraisal bias is real, she said in concurring with Vice Mayor Kearney’s comment about the perception. Homes owned by Black sellers tend to be appraised for less, Bell said, and only 8% of all appraisers nationally are Black. Raising those numbers can help erase appraisal bias, she said. GCRA is offering scholarships for anyone who wants to become an appraiser.

The committee approved and filed the GCRA report.

Items 1, 2 & 3 [The committee unanimously sent all three to full council for passage]

Albi: “We don’t want masked agents pulling people out of their cars. “We are doing what we can to protect our citizens.”

Motion 1, sponsored by Council Member James, requests that the city administration evaluate operations and engagement activities to identify whether department employees’ interactions with residents involve collecting citizenship or naturalization status data. Motion asks for a report within 90 days.

Motion 2, sponsored by James and Kearney, requests that city administration take the necessary steps to prohibit sharing any real-time data, information or footage obtained

through city-owned surveillance technology (including but not limited to cameras, drones and license plate readers) with any third party for the purpose of assisting or supporting civil immigration enforcement unless mandated by law, a court order or a judicial warrant.

Motion 3, sponsored by Albi, Nolan and James, asks that city administration take the necessary steps to stop any city-owned or city-controlled property from being used as a  permitted staging area, processing location, operations base or any similar purpose in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement warrant. The prohibition includes but is not limited to buildings, parks, parking lots and any interior or exterior parts of properties. unless federal officials have obtained a valid court order or judicial warrant. 

“When it comes to civil immigration enforcement, we do not want real-time surveillance technology assisting with that,” Albi said.

“There is more work happening,” she said, including joining the City of Minneapolis in a lawsuit on immigrant searches and arrests.

Nolan: “We have people who want to be here, who want to work here, who want to live here. We need to do all we can to protect them.”

There was no public comment. The meeting adjourned about 1:56 p.m. 

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