The Racist History of Credit Scores: How Past Discrimination Shapes Today's Financial Reality

Writer: Joeziel Vazquez,

CEO & Board Certified Credit Consultant (BCCC, CCSC, CCRS)

Experience: 17 Years in Credit Repair Industry

Published: May 18, 2023 Updated: December 16th, 2025

Reading Time: 13 Minutes

When I first learned about the racial disparities in credit scoring back in 2008, right after Lexington Law defrauded me of $1,847, I thought it was just another example of predatory companies taking advantage of vulnerable communities. But the more I dug into the system itself, the more I realized the problem went much deeper than a few bad actors. The entire credit scoring infrastructure was built on a foundation of discrimination that continues to shape financial outcomes for millions of Americans today.

After serving over 79,000 clients at Credlocity since 2008, I've seen firsthand how these systemic issues play out in real people's lives. A Black professional with a stable income struggles to get approved for the same mortgage rate as their white colleague with similar financial credentials. A Hispanic family gets quoted higher interest rates despite never missing a payment. These aren't isolated incidents. They're predictable outcomes of a system that was designed in an era of legal discrimination and has never fully shed its racist origins.

The question isn't whether credit scores are racist. The question is how much damage they continue to inflict, and what we can actually do about it.

The Origins of Financial Discrimination in America

Understanding credit score racism requires looking back at how financial institutions have historically treated communities of color. This isn't ancient history. Many people alive today remember when banks could legally refuse service based on race.

The practice of redlining emerged in the 1930s when the Federal Housing Administration literally drew red lines on maps around Black neighborhoods. These areas were deemed "high risk" for lending, not because of any economic data, but explicitly because of the racial composition of the residents. The FHA refused to guarantee home loans in these communities, effectively locking Black families out of homeownership for generations.

Think about the multigenerational impact of that decision. When your grandparents couldn't buy a home in the 1940s, your parents couldn't inherit that equity in the 1970s, and you can't use a family home as collateral for a business loan in 2025. The National Fair Housing Alliance documented extensively how these discriminatory housing policies created the wealth gap we see reflected in credit scores today.

Banks didn't just discriminate in housing. They refused to open checking accounts for Black customers, denied business loans to minority entrepreneurs, and charged higher rates when they did extend credit. This wasn't done secretly. It was standard industry practice, openly discussed in banking conferences and taught in business schools.

Even after these practices became illegal in the 1960s and 1970s, the damage persisted. Communities that had been systematically denied access to credit for decades couldn't just catch up overnight. The wealth gap widened. The disparities deepened.

How Modern Credit Scoring Perpetuates Historical Injustice

When FICO introduced its scoring model in 1989, it was marketed as objective and race-neutral. Finally, the thinking went, we had a scientific way to evaluate creditworthiness that didn't rely on human bias. The algorithm doesn't know your race, so it can't discriminate, right?

Wrong. Catastrophically wrong.

Credit scores don't need to know your race to discriminate against you because they measure the very factors that have been shaped by centuries of racial discrimination. It's like measuring the long-term health impacts of lead poisoning without acknowledging that Black neighborhoods were systematically exposed to lead paint and pipes. The measurement might be "objective," but what you're measuring reflects profound injustice.

The Five Pillars of Perpetuating Inequality

Both FICO and VantageScore base their calculations on similar factors. Let's examine how each one carries forward historical discrimination:

Payment History (35% of FICO Score): This seems straightforward. Pay your bills on time, get a good score. But what happens when you're more likely to face unexpected medical emergencies because of healthcare disparities? When you're more likely to lose your job during economic downturns because you're last hired and first fired? When predatory lenders have specifically targeted your community with high-cost loans designed to fail?

According to the National Consumer Law Center's 2024 report "Past Imperfect," Black households are far more likely to experience financial shocks without family wealth to cushion the blow. One missed payment during a crisis can haunt your credit report for seven years, creating a vicious cycle where past struggles make future stability harder to achieve.

Credit Utilization (30% of FICO Score): Using more than 30% of your available credit hurts your score. Sounds reasonable until you realize that communities of color consistently receive lower credit limits even when their payment history is identical to white borrowers. Stanford's Human-Centered AI research found that credit scoring is actually less accurate for minority and low-income borrowers because they have "thin" credit files with limited data points.

You're penalized for using a higher percentage of a smaller credit line, even though you might be managing your finances perfectly within your means. It's a classic case of the system blaming you for constraints it imposed in the first place.

Length of Credit History (15% of FICO Score): The longer your credit history, the better your score. Except when your parents and grandparents were systematically excluded from the credit system entirely. When older generations in your family couldn't establish credit, they couldn't teach you how to build it. They couldn't add you as an authorized user on their accounts to give you a head start. They couldn't cosign your first loan.

Meanwhile, white families have been building multigenerational credit advantages for decades. Little Timmy gets added to Dad's 20-year-old credit card at age 16. By the time he's applying for his first apartment at 22, he already has six years of perfect payment history that he never made a single payment toward.

Credit Mix (10% of FICO Score): Having different types of credit accounts boosts your score. But when you've been excluded from mainstream banking, you're more likely to rely on alternative financial services. You cash your paycheck at a check-cashing place instead of maintaining a checking account. You get a payday loan instead of a credit card. You rent furniture instead of financing it.

None of those transactions build your credit. In fact, when they go wrong, they actively harm it. The Urban Institute's analysis of young adult credit trajectories shows that nearly one-third of young adults in majority-Black communities see their credit scores decline between ages 18 and 29, compared to only 21% in majority-white communities.

New Credit (10% of FICO Score): Opening multiple new accounts in a short time suggests desperation, so it hurts your score. But when you've been denied credit repeatedly and are finally approved for a secured card and a credit-builder loan at the same time, you're penalized for taking the exact steps financial advisors tell you to take.

The Data Don't Lie: Current Disparities by Race

Let me show you what this looks like in hard numbers, using the most recent comprehensive data available.

According to VantageScore data from 2021, the median credit score for Black consumers is 639, compared to 730 for white consumers and 752 for Asian consumers. That's not a small difference. That's the difference between subprime and good credit. That's the difference between getting approved at 6% interest and getting denied entirely or paying 18%.

Hispanic consumers fall in the middle at 673, while Native American communities face perhaps the most severe challenges with a median score of 612. Many Native Americans living on reservations have limited access to traditional financial institutions, a problem the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has extensively documented.

But averages don't tell the full story. The rate of subprime credit scores in majority-Black and majority-Hispanic communities is at least 1.5 times higher than in majority-white communities. In some Illinois zip codes studied in 2010, over 54% of African Americans had credit scores below 620, compared to less than half that rate in majority-white areas.

The Compounding Effect: Credit Scores as Gatekeepers

Here's where things get truly insidious. Credit scores aren't just used to evaluate loan applications anymore. They've become a universal gatekeep for economic opportunity:

Employment Screening: Employers in most states can check your credit report before hiring you. Think about that circular logic. You can't get a job because your credit is bad, and your credit is bad partly because you've struggled with unemployment. The system punishes you for the very circumstances it helps create.

Housing Access: Landlords use credit scores to screen tenants. In tight rental markets, a lower score means you're competing for the few properties willing to overlook it, which are often in less desirable areas with fewer economic opportunities. This is particularly significant in Philadelphia, where our local rental market has its own complex dynamics around credit screening.

Insurance Premiums: Many insurance companies use credit-based insurance scores to set your rates. You could be a perfect driver who's never filed a claim, but you'll pay more for car insurance because of your credit score. The racial disparities in insurance costs compound the financial disadvantage.

Utility Deposits: Need to turn on electricity or gas in a new apartment? Companies check your credit and may require deposits of hundreds of dollars if your score is low. That's money that could be going toward building savings or paying down debt, instead locked away as collateral.

Business Loans: Trying to start a business to build wealth in your community? Your personal credit score will be the first thing lenders look at. The Small Business Administration considers it heavily in loan decisions. So the historical discrimination that lowered your parents' and grandparents' credit becomes the barrier that prevents you from entrepreneurial success.

Every one of these uses takes the inequality baked into credit scores and amplifies it into other areas of life. It's not just about borrowing money anymore. It's about whether you can rent an apartment, get a job, start a business, or pay reasonable rates for basic services.

The Legal Framework: Consumer Protections and Their Limitations

After decades of advocacy by civil rights activists, Congress finally passed laws to address lending discrimination. But while these protections marked important progress, they haven't eliminated the structural issues.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

Passed in 1970, the FCRA was supposed to ensure accuracy and fairness in credit reporting. It gave consumers the right to dispute errors, access their credit reports, and place security freezes. But as I've documented in my investigative journalism since 2019, and as we detail in our comprehensive analysis of credit bureau failures, the credit bureaus have systematically failed to conduct meaningful investigations of consumer disputes.

The law requires investigation, but it doesn't specify how thorough that investigation must be. In practice, bureaus often just verify that the creditor's records match what they reported, without examining whether the underlying information is accurate. When we challenge items for our clients under the FCRA, we have to be strategic because the bureaus will look for any excuse to rubber-stamp the disputed information as "verified."

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)

Enacted in 1974, the ECOA made it illegal for creditors to discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because someone receives public assistance. This was huge. Before ECOA, a woman couldn't get a credit card without her husband's permission, and banks could openly reject applications from Black borrowers.

But here's the problem: the law only prohibits intentional discrimination. It doesn't address disparate impact, where a seemingly neutral policy has discriminatory effects. As long as a lender can show they're using credit scores "objectively," they're generally protected from ECOA liability, even though credit scores themselves reflect and perpetuate historical discrimination.

This is precisely why we need Congress to amend the FCRA with updated protections that acknowledge how algorithmic decision-making can perpetuate bias.

Credit CARD Act of 2009

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act addressed some predatory practices by credit card companies. It limited interest rate increases, restricted fees, and provided better billing protections. But it didn't touch the underlying credit scoring system.

Where the Law Falls Short

All of these consumer protection laws share a common limitation: they assume discrimination is something that happens through individual decisions made by identifiable people. They weren't designed to address systemic discrimination embedded in algorithms and automated systems.

When a human loan officer rejects your application based on your race, that's illegal and you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When an algorithm rejects you based on your credit score, which was lowered by factors shaped by historical racism, there's no clear legal remedy.

Why Credit Score Algorithms Aren't As "Neutral" As You Think

Both FICO and VantageScore insist their algorithms don't consider race. That's technically true but practically meaningless. They don't need to know your race when they know your zip code, your credit history, your debt patterns, and dozens of other factors that are highly correlated with race because of our country's history.

Researchers at Stanford's Human-Centered AI program used machine learning to test whether alternative credit scoring models could be more accurate for minority and low-income borrowers. What they found was sobering: the scores for minorities are about 5% less accurate in predicting default risk than scores for non-minority borrowers. Scores for people in the bottom fifth of income are about 10% less predictive than those for higher-income borrowers.

This isn't because the algorithms are poorly designed. It's because the underlying data is flawed. When you have a "thin" credit file with limited history, one or two negative marks can have outsized impact. When your community has been systematically excluded from mainstream credit, you don't have the thick file of diverse accounts that makes scoring more reliable.

A 2024 Federal Reserve Board of Philadelphia working paper analyzing mortgage discrimination found that minority applicants tend to have significantly lower credit scores, higher leverage ratios, and are less likely to receive algorithmic approval from race-blind government-automated underwriting systems. The researchers noted that these disparities in underwriting factors "could themselves be due to racial bias applicants suffered previously in their life history."

In other words, even if today's credit decisions are "fair" in isolation, they're judging people based on financial histories that were shaped by decades of unfair treatment.

Real-World Impact: How This Affects Lending Decisions

Let me make this concrete with the numbers that matter when you're trying to build wealth and security for your family.

Mortgage Interest Rates

Consider two hypothetical borrowers applying for a $300,000 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Borrower A has a 760 credit score. Borrower B has a 640 credit score.

Borrower A might qualify for a 6.5% interest rate. Their monthly payment would be $1,896, and they'd pay $382,634 in interest over the life of the loan.

Borrower B might only qualify for 8.5% interest. Their monthly payment would be $2,307, and they'd pay $530,607 in interest over the life of the loan.

That's $411 more per month. That's $147,973 more in total interest payments. That's nearly $150,000 that could have gone toward building wealth, saving for retirement, funding your children's education, or starting a business. Instead, it goes to the bank because your credit score was 120 points lower, a difference that likely reflects the cumulative impact of systemic discrimination rather than any meaningful difference in your actual likelihood of repaying the loan.

And remember, you might not even get approved at all with that 640 score, depending on other factors.

Auto Loans

The pattern repeats with car loans, though the dollar amounts are smaller. On a $30,000 car loan for 60 months:

With excellent credit (720+): 5.5% interest = $572 monthly payment, $4,320 total interest With fair credit (620-659): 11.5% interest = $663 monthly payment, $9,780 total interest

That's $5,460 more you're paying for the exact same car. It's a regressive tax on being disadvantaged.

Credit Cards

Credit card interest rates show even starker disparities. Someone with excellent credit might qualify for cards with 15-18% APR. Someone with fair credit is looking at 25-30% APR, if they can get approved at all. If you're carrying a balance, those percentage points add up fast.

Worse, the credit limits differ dramatically. You might get approved for a $10,000 limit with excellent credit, but only $1,500 with fair credit. Remember that credit utilization factor? If you need to put $500 in emergency expenses on your card, that's 5% utilization with the high limit but 33% utilization with the low limit. So not only do you pay more in interest, but using the credit you've been approved for actively hurts your score.

Breaking the Cycle: What Actually Works

After helping over 79,000 clients improve their credit over the past 17 years, I've learned that individual action is necessary but not sufficient. The system is rigged, but you can still navigate it more effectively while we fight for larger reforms.

For Individuals: Tactical Credit Building

First, understand your credit report inside and out. Get your free credit reports from all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) at AnnualCreditReport.com You're entitled to one free report from each bureau every 12 months, and reviewing them is the foundation of everything else.

Dispute every error aggressively. The credit bureaus process millions of transactions monthly, and mistakes are common. Items that show the wrong date, wrong balance, wrong payment status, or that you don't recognize at all should be challenged immediately. At Credlocity, we've successfully removed $3.8 million in unverified debt from consumer credit reports precisely because we know how to challenge information effectively under the FCRA.

If you're starting from scratch or rebuilding after financial difficulties, secured credit cards are your friend. You put down a deposit (usually $200-500), and that becomes your credit limit. Use it for small regular purchases, pay it off in full every month, and you're building positive payment history. After 6-12 months of responsible use, many issuers will graduate you to a regular unsecured card and return your deposit.

Credit-builder loans work similarly. You "borrow" money that gets deposited into a savings account you can't access until you've paid off the loan. Your monthly payments get reported to the credit bureaus, building your payment history while you're actually saving money.

Consider becoming an authorized user on a family member's account if you have someone with excellent credit who trusts you. You get the benefit of their payment history and credit age without being legally responsible for the debt. This is how many white families give their children a credit head start, and there's no reason you shouldn't use the same strategy if it's available to you.

For Policymakers: Systemic Reforms We Need

Individual actions can improve individual circumstances, but we need policy changes to address systemic discrimination.

Reduce Time Limits on Negative Information: Currently, most negative items stay on your credit report for seven years, bankruptcies for ten. The National Consumer Law Center has proposed reducing these limits to three years. If you had a rough patch but have been responsible for the past three years, why should lenders still be penalized you for mistakes from six years ago? Shorter reporting periods would give people a better chance to recover from financial setbacks without being permanently marked.

Restrict Credit Scoring Mission Creep: Credit scores were designed to predict the likelihood of defaulting on credit. They were never intended to evaluate your suitability as an employee or tenant, yet that's exactly how they're being used. We should prohibit the use of credit information in employment decisions (except for positions with direct financial responsibility) and severely restrict it in housing and insurance.

Mandate Risk-Based Pricing Limits: Lenders are allowed to charge higher rates to consumers with lower credit scores, which is theoretically based on risk. But those risk assessments are themselves tainted by historical discrimination. Interest rates should be capped at 36% for small loans and lower for larger ones. Higher rates don't just compensate for risk; they create a debt trap that makes financial recovery nearly impossible.

Expand Special Purpose Credit Programs: The Equal Credit Opportunity Act explicitly permits "Special Purpose Credit Programs" designed to benefit disadvantaged groups. These programs need to be dramatically expanded, well-funded, and actively promoted in communities of color. We need credit products specifically designed to address the unique barriers facing these communities.

Create Alternative Scoring Models: Several companies are developing alternative credit scoring models that consider factors like rent payments, utility bills, cell phone bills, and banking activity. While we must be cautious about how alternative data is used (it can harm consumers if negative data is included), positive-only alternative data reporting could help millions of people demonstrate creditworthiness despite thin traditional credit files.

Establish Public Credit Registries: Other countries have public credit registries run by their central banks rather than private for-profit companies. A public registry could be designed from the ground up to minimize racial disparities rather than perpetuating them. It could prioritize accuracy over efficiency, give consumers more rights to dispute errors, and be transparent about its methodology.

For Community Organizations: Building Collective Power

Individual financial literacy is important, but collective action is essential. Community organizations should consider:

Credit Counseling and Coaching: Not the predatory credit repair companies I've spent years exposing (like Lexington Law and Credit Saint), but legitimate nonprofit organizations that provide real education and advocacy.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs): These mission-driven lenders specifically serve low-income and minority communities. They use more holistic underwriting that goes beyond credit scores, considering factors like your relationship with the community and your demonstrated commitment to financial stability.

Credit Unions: While not perfect, credit unions are member-owned and often more willing to work with borrowers who have imperfect credit. They're more likely to consider your full story rather than just your score.

Advocacy and Political Action: Push your elected representatives to support the reforms mentioned above. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission need to hear from real consumers about how credit scoring discrimination impacts your lives. Report violations at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The Future of Credit Scoring: Can We Do Better?

I'm frequently asked whether credit scoring can ever be truly fair given its origins and the persistent disparities. Honestly, I'm skeptical that the current system can be reformed enough to eliminate racial bias. The problems are too deep, too structural, too fundamentally baked into the methodology.

But I do believe we can do significantly better than we're doing now. We can make the system more transparent. We can give consumers more rights and recourse. We can limit the uses of credit scores to actual credit decisions rather than employment and housing. We can develop alternative models that don't rely so heavily on historical data that reflects historical discrimination.

Some promising developments are already underway. VantageScore 4.0 includes trended data that shows whether your balances are increasing or decreasing over time, not just a snapshot. FICO has experimented with incorporating bank account information. Upstart and other fintech lenders use artificial intelligence to consider thousands of data points beyond just credit scores.

Whether these alternatives actually reduce racial disparities or just find new ways to perpetuate them remains to be seen. We need independent auditing and testing of all credit scoring algorithms, including the proprietary ones that companies currently keep secret. If a scoring model has disparate impact by race, the public has a right to know.

Taking Action: What You Can Do Right Now

The system is broken, but you're not powerless. Here's what I recommend based on nearly two decades of helping people navigate credit challenges:

1. Get your free credit reports today from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Review them carefully for errors, unauthorized accounts, and anything that doesn't match your records.

2. Document everything related to your credit. Keep copies of payment confirmations, dispute letters, and all correspondence with creditors and credit bureaus. When you're challenging items, documentation is your strongest weapon.

3. Know your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Fair Credit Billing Act. These laws exist to protect you, but only if you understand and assert your rights.

4. Build credit strategically using secured cards, credit-builder loans, or by becoming an authorized user. Focus on payment history (never miss a payment) and credit utilization (keep it below 30%, ideally below 10%).

5. Advocate for change by contacting your representatives in Congress, filing complaints with the CFPB when creditors violate your rights, and supporting organizations working to reform credit scoring.

6. Teach others in your community. Share what you learn. Help your friends and family understand their rights and how to navigate the system. The more of us who understand how this works, the harder it becomes to exploit us.

About Credlocity: Ethical Credit Repair with a Mission

I founded Credlocity in 2008 after experiencing credit repair fraud firsthand. When Lexington Law took $1,847 from me without delivering the results they promised, I decided to become part of the solution. I studied consumer protection law extensively, earned my Board Certified Credit Consultant certification along with CCSC, CCRS, and FCRA Certified Professional credentials, and built Credlocity on a foundation of transparency and genuine consumer advocacy.

Over the past 17 years, we've served more than 79,000 clients across all 50 states and successfully removed $3.8 million in unverified debt from consumer credit reports. We maintain zero negative BBB reviews because we tell clients the truth upfront: we can't remove accurate negative information, we can't guarantee specific results, and credit repair is a process that requires their participation.

As a Hispanic-owned, minority-owned, women-owned, and LGBTQAI+-owned business, we understand firsthand how discrimination impacts credit and financial opportunity. We're not just a credit repair company. We're consumer advocates fighting against predatory practices while helping individuals navigate a broken system.

Every client gets monthly one-on-one consultations and monthly budgeting assistance included in their plan because we know that sustainable credit improvement requires addressing the root causes, not just disputing negative items. We offer a 30-day free trial with no credit card required and a 180-day money-back guarantee because we want to earn your trust through results, not trap you in recurring charges.

Our mobile app gives you real-time credit monitoring so you always know where you stand. And we strictly comply with TSR regulations by accepting enrollments only through our online platform, never over the phone, to protect consumers from predatory practices used by other companies in this industry.

If you're struggling with credit challenges, I encourage you to take advantage of our free trial or at minimum, read through our extensive educational resources to understand your rights and options.

Legal Disclosures

Not Legal or Financial Advice

This article provides educational information only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Every individual's situation is unique, and you should consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific circumstances. For legal questions, consult a licensed attorney. For financial advice, work with a qualified financial advisor.

CROA and TSR Compliance Statement

Credlocity operates exclusively within the requirements and limitations of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). We make no guarantees regarding credit score improvements or specific results. Credit repair outcomes depend on numerous factors including the accuracy of information on your credit reports, your credit history, and actions you take during the process.

Accurate Information Disclaimer

We cannot and do not remove accurate negative information from credit reports. We work exclusively to address inaccurate, unverifiable, or improperly reported information as permitted under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and related consumer protection laws.

TSR Phone Enrollment Warning

Federal law requires that credit repair companies who enroll clients over the phone must wait six months before charging any fees. Credlocity avoids this requirement by accepting enrollments only through our online platform, never over the phone. We disclose this information so consumers can protect themselves from companies violating this law. Any credit repair company charging fees immediately after a phone consultation is operating illegally, and you should report them to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/.

FTC Reporting Encouragement

We encourage all consumers to report any credit repair company who charges for services after signing up following a phone consultation at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/. Consumer protection depends on consumers reporting violations when they encounter them.

Conclusion: The Long Road to Financial Justice

Credit scores will probably always reflect inequality to some degree. They measure financial behavior, and financial behavior is shaped by opportunity, and opportunity has never been equally distributed in America. But the magnitude of current disparities is neither inevitable nor acceptable.

We didn't end segregation by asking Black families to individually succeed within a rigged system. We changed the system. We didn't achieve women's suffrage by encouraging women to work harder within their constraints. We changed the constraints. And we won't achieve credit scoring justice by telling communities of color to just build better credit within a system designed to disadvantage them. We need to change the system.

That change requires both individual action and collective advocacy. Build your credit, assert your rights, and help others do the same. But also demand that policymakers address the structural problems. Support organizations fighting for reform. Vote for representatives who understand that discrimination didn't end when we made it illegal.

The racist history of credit scores isn't just history. It's present reality affecting millions of Americans every single day. Understanding that reality is the first step toward changing it.

Sources

1. National Consumer Law Center - "Past Imperfect: How Credit Scores and Other Analytics 'Bake In' and Perpetuate Past Discrimination" (2024) - https://www.nclc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20240227_Issue-Brief_Past-Imperfect.pdf

2. Urban Institute - "Young Adults' Credit Trajectories Vary Widely by Race and Ethnicity" (2025) - https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/young-adults-credit-trajectories-vary-widely-race-and-ethnicity

3. Stanford Human-Centered AI - "How Flawed Data Aggravates Inequality in Credit" - https://hai.stanford.edu/news/how-flawed-data-aggravates-inequality-credit

4. Federal Reserve Board of Philadelphia - "How Much Does Racial Bias Affect Mortgage Lending? Evidence from Human and Algorithmic Credit Decisions" (2024) - https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-papers/2024/wp24-09.pdf

5. Bankrate - "How Race Impacts Credit: The History And Effect On Lending Practices" (2025) - https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/credit/does-race-affect-credit-score/

6. National Fair Housing Alliance - "Credit Scoring and Insurance: Perpetuating Inequalities?" - https://nationalfairhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/NFHA-credit-scoring-paper-for-Suffolk-NCLC-symposium-submitted-to-Suffolk-Law.pdf

7. National Community Reinvestment Coalition - "Native Americans Struggle to Obtain Credit" - https://ncrc.org/native-americans-struggle-to-obtain-credit-a-close-analysis-of-native-american-mortgage-lending-from-2018-2021/

8. Public Justice - "The Discriminatory Impact of Credit Scores" (2023) - https://www.publicjustice.net/the-discriminatory-impact-of-credit-scores/

9. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/

10. Federal Trade Commission - Report Fraud - https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

11. Small Business Administration - https://www.sba.gov/

12. Annual Credit Report - https://www.annualcreditreport.com