Washington, DC – Today, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and its member organization, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), released a set of resources to aid the advancement of local responsible banking ordinances in cities throughout the nation. Local responsible banking ordinances are laws designed to ensure responsible loans, investments, and services for modest-income and minority neighborhoods. The ordinances require an evaluation of financial institution performance in serving modest-income and minority neighborhoods as part of the criteria for deciding which institutions receive municipal deposits and other city business.
In order to empower organizers, advocates and lawmakers seeking to get responsible banking ordinances passed in their cities and localities, NCRC has released a new model responsible banking ordinance. Updated from NCRC’s 2010 model ordinance, the new model ordinance is based on NCRC’s experience supporting, enhancing, and helping to craft laws in Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. NCRC has also released a spreadsheet and a fact sheet detailing the ins and outs of the existing ordinances and proposed ordinances in various cities.
ANHD has released a convening report, capturing and distilling the results of a 2011 meeting sponsored by ANHD and NCRC. The meeting brought together advocates, organizers, and local leaders for a daylong meeting on responsible banking ordinances. The report describes strategies and best practices for building support for the ordinances.
NCRC President and CEO John Taylor made the following statement:
“What we are seeing is a broad groundswell at the local level. Communities are looking for ways to hold banks accountable, and to ensure that they invest responsibly in our neighborhoods. This model ordinance, and the knowledge of past ordinance efforts and best practices are powerful tools to create positive change in our communities.”
Said Benjamin Dulchin, Executive Director of ANHD: “Banks take deposits from local communities, and in return for the taxpayer-backed support that every bank gets as a matter of course, they are required to meet the credit and banking needs of those local communities. All too often – especially in recent years – banks have failed in this obligation. Local responsible banking ordinances are founded on the premise that CRA works best when it is a vehicle for the community to bring banks to the table. This is what makes them a powerful and timely tool to hold banks more accountable to local communities.”
About NCRC
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition is an association of more than 600 community-based organizations that promote access to basic banking services, including credit and savings, to create and sustain affordable housing, job development and vibrant communities for America’s working families. To find out more, visit http://ncrcdev.local.
About the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD):
The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development is a membership organization of 98 New York City non-profit neighborhood housing groups. Our mission is to ensure flourishing neighborhoods and decent affordable housing for all New Yorker by supporting community development and community organizing in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods throughout the city.
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