Which statement about redlining is true today?

• A. It is illegal today in all circumstances
• B. It remains widely practiced by lenders
• C. It was not a historical practice
• D. It is illegal today, though it was legal in the past

Answer: (D)

Redlining is illegal today because federal laws prohibit discrimination in housing and credit, including the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. These laws ban denying or limiting financial services to residents of a neighborhood based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status. In the past, lenders and government programs sometimes used redlining practices to steer resources away from certain areas, often tied to racial composition. That historical reality reflected broader legal gaps and weaker enforcement at the time. Since the civil rights era, these discriminatory practices have been prohibited, and enforcement has increased, making redlining illegal in today’s lending environment. It’s still possible for unlawful discrimination to occur in other forms, but the systematic practice of denying services to an area based on its residents’ characteristics is not legally permitted anymore.