Jesse Van Tol
Chief Operating Officer
Government Sponsored Enterprises Reform
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are known as Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) because of considerable benefits, such as tax exemptions, that they receive from the Federal government. The GSEs serve a critical function as they buy loans from banks, enabling banks to make more loans. With GSE reform as a major priority for Congress, NCRC will
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HMDA Data Enhancements
Enacted by Congress in 1975, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires banks, savings and loan associations and other financial institutions to publicly report detailed data on their home lending activity. Over the years, community organizations and concerned citizens have used HMDA data as a tool to determine which banks are lending in their community.
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Small Business Data
Data disclosures must be enhanced for small business lending so that the public can thoroughly assess financial institutions’ lending practices to women, minorities, and working-class Americans. With enhanced data disclosure, regulatory agencies can more effectively enforce fair lending laws and banks are generally more motivated to serve overlooked small businesses. NCRC applauds Congress for passing
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Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
Since it was passed in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has helped infuse trillions of dollars in community reinvestment dollars into minority and lower income neighborhoods. But, despite the benefits of CRA, recent changes will decrease its effectiveness and result in fewer loans and investments in low-income and minority communities. Instead, CRA needs to
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Community Reinvestment Act Organizing
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a law that requires banks to serve the credit needs of communities where they are chartered, including low- and moderate-income communities. The law promotes neighborhood revitalization and equity building by creating access to responsible homeownership opportunities, basic banking services and capital for small businesses. The CRA also calls on
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Anti-Predatory Lending and Sustainable Homeownership
Since the last review of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) by the Federal Reserve Board, the home mortgage market has changed considerably. Subprime lending has become a dominant force, unregulated mortgage brokers now originate a large part of the mortgages, and exotic mortgages with exploding interest rates have become a common occurrence.
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A Brief Description of CRA
Passed by Congress in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) states that “regulated financial institutions have continuing and affirmative obligations to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered.” The act then establishes a regulatory regime for monitoring the level of lending, investments, and services in low- and moderate-income
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The CRA Small Business Data
In the early years of CRA, community activists, lenders, and regulators focused on home lending activity. This was partly because HMDA data was available and because neighborhood organizing usually started with the issues of housing, crime prevention, and other community empowerment endeavors. As CRA enforcement and activism evolved over the years, the importance of small
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NCRC Comments on CRA Exam
NCRC Organizes Community Groups to Protest Venture Bank’s Payday Lending NCRC Comments on Staten Island NCRC Comments on NetBank’s CRA Strategic Plan NCRC Organizes Community Groups to Protest Venture Bank’s Payday Lending The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the Consumer Federation of American (CFA), the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina (CRA*NC) and 65 other
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CRA Manual
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a remarkable law. Not only does it prohibit discrimination against working class and minority neighborhoods, it also imposes an affirmative obligation on banks to serve these communities. It is not good enough for a bank to establish branches and passively wait for customers to walk into branches. Instead, banks