redlining

Red-Lining

A practice in which a company refuses to market its products in a certain area because it is disproportionately poor, has a high rate of default, and/or has a large minority population. Examples of products where a company may practice red-lining are health insurance and mortgages. Red-lining is illegal because these products should be offered based on individual creditworthiness. Those who support the illegality of red-lining argue that it promotes equality between races and classes, while critics contend that it leads to needless distortions in the market. See also: Fair Housing Act of 1968, Community Reinvestment Act.

redlining

Commonly used to communicate an illegal practice of refusing to make loans or sell insurance in certain areas.In reality,the practice is common and is legal,but only if the disqualifying criteria do not include race, religion, gender, family status, disability, or ethnic origin, or some disguised criteria intended to discriminate on those grounds. Many insurance companies will not sell insurance in entire states viewed as being plaintiff-friendly with outrageous jury awards. This is a form of permissible redlining.