A guide published by the Federal Housing Administration, which set rules for real estate agents to assess the value and creditworthiness of different homes and neighborhoods. The Underwriting Manual explicitly promoted segregation, defended restrictive covenants, and ordered real estate agents to do the same. For instance, it directed real estate agents to rate neighborhoods as less creditworthy and desirable if they included “inharmonious racial or nationality groups”—by which it specifically meant African Americans. This shows why African Americans’ inability to buy homes in the 20th century was not the (de facto) result of private choices by banks or the real estate industry, but rather the (de jure) result of specific orders from the federal government.
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Underwriting Manual Term Timeline in The Color of Law
The timeline below shows where the term Underwriting Manual appears in The Color of Law. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: “Own Your Own Home”
...but “included a whites-only requirement.” It had real estate agents appraise properties according to the Underwriting Manual , which explicitly stated that “inharmonious racial or nationality groups” should lower the appraised value...
(full context)
...this chapter, Rothstein notes that VA loans were also made in collaboration with the FHA’s Underwriting Manual , which meant they were unattainable for black Americans. The FHA and the VA systems...
(full context)
Chapter 5: Private Agreements, Government Enforcement
...covenants that banned selling to African American people, and explicitly supported such language in its Underwriting Manual . Sometimes it even required that prospective suburban developers write this into deeds before insuring...
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