§ 17:16F-1 — Legislative findings and declarations

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that depository institutions have sometimes failed to provide adequate home financing on a nondiscriminatory basis for all neighborhoods within the communities from which these institutions receive deposits. The Legislature further finds that neighborhood discrimination on the part of depository institutions results in the arbitrary denial of loans to creditworthy persons; substantially reduces the availability of funds from the private sector for urban housing investments; accelerates the physical decline of the affected neighborhoods; and undercuts publicly supported programs for the preservation and revival of urban neighborhoods. The purposes of this act are to prohibit the arbitrary denial of mortgage loans on the basis of the location of the property to be mortgaged; to encourage an increase in the availability or mortgage capital to neighborhoods to which such investment capital has generally been denied; and to provide the citizens and public officials of the State of New Jersey with sufficient information to enable them to determine which depository institutions are fulfilling their obligations to serve the housing needs of the communities and neighborhoods in which they are located. L.1977, c. 1, s. 1.