Abstract
We use the staggered adoption of same-sex marriage legalization across the U.S. to study its effects on access to credit for same-sex couples. Following the legalization of same-sex marriage, same-sex couples are more likely to be denied mortgage credit compared to opposite-sex couples. Our data do not support opinion backlash as an explanation for the increasing denial gap. Instead, our results suggest a role for information frictions between loan officers and same-sex borrowers as one channel for the disparate treatment of same-sex and opposite-sex applicants. Our findings suggest mortgage lending decisions may not be as automated as widely thought.
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