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MReport September 2017

TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.

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TH E M R EP O RT | 13 COVER STORY A s society evolves, so do the trends of homebuying. What was once seen as a rite of passage for married couples is now becoming increas- ingly more popular with singles and, in particular, single women. Today's women have higher levels of education than previous generations, and despite hurdles, such as the gender wage gap, single women are now the second-largest group of homebuyers after married couples. With an independent mindset, stronger ties to financial assistance outside of marriage, and a higher need for solo parenting, the modern single woman is using this new set of cultural changes to buy homes at rates unseen before. Looking Back T o fully understand why this is an issue of importance, it is wise to look back at Amer- ica's past, according to Dr. Amy Crews Cutts, Chief Economist at Equifax. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, for example, had a profound impact on race relations, but it also greatly influenced women's rights, she said. "Go back to the documentation of the time," Crews Cutts said. "They put women as a pro- tected class with the idea that it would derail legislation. So, women were a last minute add in." Despite the Civil Rights Act's passage, things didn't just change automatically—they evolved over time. When Freddie Mac was created in 1970, it was involved with this change by reform- ing its regulations, and the Enterprise was tasked with spotting bias in mortgage originations, Crews Cutts said. Freddie Mac also created an advisory group called the Underwriting Barriers Outreach Group (UNBOG), which would gather on a regular basis, scour the underwriting guidelines page by page, and take out things that were deemed no longer necessary or overtly discriminatory. One of the things removed? How a woman's income was tallied on a mortgage loan. "So again, you go back to this very paternalistic society that we had prior to the Civil Rights Act, and the deal was that a woman's income, if she was unmarried, was 'Well, there's no way she could possibly afford a home on her own,'" Crews Ladies By Nicole Casperson

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