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“There are, in fact, valid foreclosures that probably should go forward,” said David Axelrod, an adviser to the president.

While senior Congressional Democrats join the calls for a national moratorium on foreclosures, the White House once again is arguing against punishing the industry, just as it did in 2009 amid the outcry over the unbreakable habit of paying large bonuses.

“Irresponsible banks need to be held accountable, but if we have not found a problem with a bank’s process we do not believe that we should impose a moratorium where that can hurt the market and hurt individual buyers,” said Shaun Donovan, secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The administration’s basic logic has not changed since it took office in the depths of the financial crisis: Hitting the financial industry, officials argue in private and in public, hurts the broader economy. A moratorium on foreclosures may provide short-term political satisfaction in an overheated election climate, but the administration fears it will only delay the inevitable and necessary process of forcing many Americans out of homes they cannot afford.

Our members include community reinvestment organizations, community development corporations; local and state government agencies; faith-based institutions; community organizing and civil rights groups; minority and women-owned business associations as well as local and social service providers from across the nation.

NCRC pursues its work through a variety of partnerships and programs. Our National Homeownership Sustainability Fund leverages the expertise of a national network of mortgage finance advisors. They work with servicers and lenders, on behalf of homeowners, to keep working families from losing their homes to foreclosure.

NCRC’s National Training Academy provides training and technical assistance on topics such as understanding how to use the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), fair lending laws, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Homeownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), fair housing and foreclosure prevention. Our Economic Justice Campaign sites pilot innovative community partnerships to enhance the delivery of financial, technical, and social services to individual consumers, homeowners, and small business.

NCRC’s work is enhanced by two financial service advisory councils consisting of the nation’s largest banks and mortgage finance companies. Quarterly roundtables examine issues involving responsible financial service-related policies, regulations and legislation, as well as innovative products, services and best practices.

NCRC represents its members before Congress, federal regulatory agencies and the press. NCRC routinely testifies before the U.S. Congress, and meets with the leadership of banking and lending regulatory agencies. NCRC frequently provides expert commentary on national television, and our research and policy papers have been cited in hundreds of newspapers in the US.

Washington, DC -- As the federal government faces a possible shutdown, local community organizations will gather in Washington, DC to call for renewed efforts to prevent foreclosures, create jobs and stabilize communities, building on model programs and efforts at the local level. Joined by its state-based member organizations, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) hosts its annual conference, "National Challenges, Local Solutions: Rebuilding Homes, Lives and Communities," next week, April 13-16. Discussion topics will include: financial reform, housing finance reform, foreclosure prevention, neighborhood stabilization and job creation.

"We're not waiting for the body of Congress to show leadership," said John Taylor, president & CEO of NCRC. "We've waited too long for common sense solutions to prevent foreclosures and to create jobs in this country. While Congress seems bent on proving that it is a dysfunctional body, at the local level, community organizations and local governments are working together to craft solutions to the problems they face. But at every turn these efforts have been stymied by a political system that seems to be concerned with blue collar Americans last. Our members are coming to Washington fired up; we're ready to tell our elected leaders that it is now time to follow our lead."

The 2011 Annual Conference will be held at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC. Conference headliners include: Sheila Bair, Chairman, U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Senator Jon Tester, Chair of the Economic Policy Subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee; Senator Jeff Merkley, Senate Banking Committee; Senator Al Franken, Senate Judiciary Committee; Richard Cordray, Assistant Director for Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice; Congressman Keith Ellison, co-chair, Progressive Caucus; and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

This conference is open to the press. For more information about covering this event, please contact Jesse Van Tol at 202-464-2709 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

What: National Community Reinvestment Coalition's 2011 Annual Conference, "National Challenges, Local Solutions: Rebuilding Homes, Lives and Communities."

Featured session:

Friday, April 15. 10:30am-12:00pm Location: Atrium Ballroom

The State of Mortgage Finance in America

With no end in sight to the foreclosure crisis that has destroyed trillions of dollars in wealth across America, federal housing policy is moving in the direction of significantly constraining mortgage credit. The proposed pullback of government guarantees, as well as higher down payment requirements built into proposals for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Qualified Residential Mortgage, will reduce the number of Americans able to own a home. What does the American public need to know about these proposals? What effect will the constriction of available of mortgage credit have on current and future homeowners, as well as property values, local tax bases, economic growth and family and generational wealth?

Moderated by: John Taylor, President and CEO, NCRC

Featured Speaker: Gene Sperling, Chairman, National Economic Council (invited)

Participants: Stella Adams, North Carolina NAACP; Mark Calabria, Director, Financial Regulation, the Cato Institute; Bill Emerson, CEO, Quicken Loans; Mark Goldhaber, Senior Vice President, Genworth Financial; Irvin Henderson, National Trust for Historic Preservation; Marc H. Morial, President, National Urban League; Hubert Van Tol, Director of Economic Justice, PathStone; Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody's Economy.com.

Other highlights:

Wednesday, April 13

12:00pm: Senator Jeff Merkley, Senate Banking Committee. Welcoming Luncheon: Location: Ballroom

7:00pm: Senator Jon Tester, Chair of the Economic Policy Subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee. Chairman's Reception. Location: Ballroom

Thursday, April 14

8:00am: Sheila Bair, Chairman, U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Breakfast plenary: Location: Ballroom

4:00pm: Richard Cordray, Assistant Director for Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Update and Regulatory Reform Briefing. Location: Springwood

1:30pm: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. National Challenges, Local Solutions: New Hope for Distressed Communities: Location: Ballroom

3:00pm: Mark Ayers, President, Building Trades Department; and Robert Peck, Commissioner Public Buildings Service, General Services Administration. New Alliances: Breaking Down Barriers to Create Opportunity for Underserved Communities. Location: Ballroom

12:30pm: Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice. Luncheon keynote: Location: Ballroom

Where: Washington Court Hotel ◊ 525 New Jersey Avenue, NW ◊ Washington DC 20001

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Washington, DC -- Today, at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's (NCRC) annual conference, a panel of top experts will discuss and debate how best to reach equitable, workable solutions to the foreclosure crisis. The plenary will feature Joseph Smith Jr., monitor for the national mortgage settlement, Franklin Raines, former Fannie Mae Chairman and CEO, Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, Mark Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, Diane Thompson, Of Counsel at the National Consumer Law Center, and Hubert Van Tol, Director for Economic Justice at Pathstone. The panel will discuss the measures necessary to stop the foreclosure epidemic, implement principal reductions on a large scale, and bring the housing market and economy back to full strength.

"We are very pleased to have this group of leading experts tackle these critical issues at our conference," said NCRC President and CEO John Taylor. "The housing market will continue to be a drag on the economy until policy makers and financial institutions alike can come together and offer serious, equitable remedies. This event is a forum to bring constructive ideas to the forefront."

"Some see the current economy as a glass half empty, and some as a glass half full. But no matter how you look at it, the broken housing market is a hole in the bottom of that proverbial glass. Until we fix it, we will never fill the glass."

Joseph Smith, Jr. made the following statement about the conference: "The consumer advocates attending NCRC's meeting are true experts about the issues Americans face in the housing market. This conference marks an important first step in what I hope will be a productive working relationship with these advocates. I hope that together we will find a way to reboot the mortgage industry in a way that is more focused on the consumer."

The conference also features workshops and state-of-the-art training to give NCRC's members and conference participants the tools to implement change in their communities.

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Washington, DC -- Today, in a keynote address at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's (NCRC) annual conference, Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray announced that the agency will use all available legal avenues, including disparate impact, to pursue discriminatory lenders.

"We want consumers to avoid the marketplace's silent pickpocket -- discrimination," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "We cannot afford to tolerate practices, intentional or not, that unlawfully price out or cut off segments of the population from the credit markets. That's why the CFPB is educating consumers about their fair lending rights and pursuing lenders whose practices are discriminatory."

NCRC President and CEO John Taylor made the following statement: "This is a significant decision. It will help to shine a spotlight on the discriminatory practices in the lending marketplace, which are widespread and need to be purged. There should be no tolerance for discrimination, whether in intent or in practice. CFPB's action is a positive step towards building an economic system that offers opportunity and a fair chance to prosper for all Americans. We applaud CFPB Director Cordray for his leadership."

"Cordray made two key announcements in efforts to guard against fair lending abuses. He established that the CFPB is concerned with eliminating practices that, intentionally or not, have the effect of discriminating against people. He affirmed the intention of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to enforce the long-standing disparate impact doctrine. We are pleased to have a regulator who takes seriously their duty to protect people of color, older Americans, veterans, students and all populations vulnerable against discrimination in every form of lending," said Taylor.

CFPB has issued a compliance bulletin declaring the Bureau's intention to recognize disparate impact in its enforcement of the Equal Credit Opportunity act. Disparate impact occurs when a lender's practices or policies are facially neutral but have discriminatory effects.

Today marks the first day of NCRC's annual conference. This year's conference "Not Just an Economy, a Just Economy" focuses on equitable solutions to the foreclosure crisis, consumer financial protection, and new threats to fair access to capital and credit.

Featured speakers at this year's conference include: Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Franklin Raines, former Fannie Mae Chairman and CEO, Joseph Smith, former North Carolina Banking Commissioner, and Eugene Ludwig, Founder and CEO of Promontory Financial Group. Get the full conference schedule.

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Washington, DC -- Today, hundreds of community organizations sent a letter to President Obama calling on him to make a recess appointment to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). FHFA is currently led by an Acting Director, Ed DeMarco, who has refused to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which hold the majority of the mortgages in the country, to participate in a key administration principal reduction program.

"The administration saying that their hands are tied on FHFA, when the President has the ability to name an FHFA Director through a recess appointment, is akin to telling someone "my dog ate my homework," said NCRC President and CEO John Taylor. "It's time for the President to step up and use his power to make a recess appointment to deliver much needed relief to American homeowners, who are still paying the price for a housing market which crashed because of malfeasant industry practices, not through any fault of their own."

"Despite the Obama administration's continued efforts to work with FHFA Acting Director DeMarco, he has shown that he will not budge on principal reductions at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Doing principal reductions at the GSEs is in all of our best interests, as it would not only help homeowners, and save taxpayers money, but also benefit the housing market and our flagging economy. This is too important an issue to continue to leave the director position at FHFA unfilled."

DeMarco recently announced that he will not allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to participate in the Home Affordable Refinance Program Principal Reduction Alternative (HAMP-PRA). FHFA's analysis shows that allowing the GSEs to participate in HAMP-PRA the could benefit up to 500 thousand homeowners, save $3.6 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and $1 billion for taxpayers.

NCRC has long called upon DeMarco to allow principal reductions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.

About the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (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://www.ncrc.org.