Who Experiences Foreclosures? The Characteristics of Households Experiencing a Foreclosure in Minneapolis,Minnesota

Much of the existing research on disparities in residential foreclosures provides strong, but not conclusive, evidence that minority households disproportionately experience foreclosures. Data commonly used in foreclosure research do not allow researchers to use household characteristics of foreclosed properties to test for disparities in experiencing foreclosure. This is a significant omission in the literature since understanding the types of households that most typically experience foreclosure might result in the creation of better targeted and more effective foreclosure prevention and mitigation programs. Using a unique data set this paper explores the characteristics of households that experienced a foreclosure in Minneapolis, Minnesota during fiscal years 2006 and 2007. Research results confirm that African American households disproportionately experience foreclosures, but also indicate that renter households, households with children and foreign-born homeowners are all over-represented among foreclosed households. These results have implications for how policy makers and practitioners address foreclosure prevention and mitigation efforts.