The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) "has released a study showing that the number of subprime home loans is skyrocketing in predominantly black neighborhoods and low-income neighborhoods." Statistics presented here indicate that lenders may be engaged in "predatory lending," charging much higher interest rates to minorities and the poor than to whites and the middle class. Among the findings: "homeowners in high-income black areas are twice as likely as homeowners in low-income white areas to have subprime loans."