Found a way to audit my mortgage algorithm's bias in 20 minutes

Applied for a home loan last month at a local credit union in Portland. Got denied. My credit score is solid (780 last check). Pulled the same report and took it to a different lender. They approved me at 6.2%. Something felt off. So I asked the first place for their decision data... they had to give it to me by law. Turns out their automated system was weighting zip codes higher than payment history. My zip code has a lower median income. I ran a simple spreadsheet comparison on 50 recent applications from my area vs the wealthier side of town. Clear pattern of denials. Filed a complaint with the CFPB. Has anyone else pulled the actual decision logs from these systems? What did you find?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.blake1mo ago

Actually credit unions are nonprofits so they have different rules on that.

carter.joseph1mo ago

More people avoid credit unions because banks just spend way more on advertising and convenience.

nguyen.angela1mo ago

yeah thats true but it makes me wonder why more people dont know this stuff. seems like we just accept whatever banks tell us without asking questions about who actually owns them or where the money goes.