For interviews and other media requests, contact: media@ncrc.org
Impact from Foreclosure Crisis Expanding, Churches Feeling the Pain As Thanksgiving Comes Washington, DC – Dozens of faith leaders today joined Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., in calling for congressional action to address the foreclosure crisis and to strengthen and enforce the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), in order to stabilize communities nationwide that have been […]
Organization Praises Web Portal as Complete Solution for Submitting Loan Modification Applications (WASHINGTON, DC) – HOPE LoanPort™ announced today that the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), an association of more than 600 community-based organizations, is endorsing its web-based loan modification portal. Both the NCRC and many of its members are already using the groundbreaking new
NCRC Partners with HOPE LoanPort™ to Assist Homeowners Read More »
NCRC Urges Fed To Stimulate Economy By Demanding Principal Reductions On Its Loans Worth $1.1 Trillion Taylor Says Federal Government Has Power, Authority to Obtain Reductions on Majority of Mortgage Market Washington, DC – In its efforts to stimulate the economy, the Federal Reserve should demand that banks reduce the principal balances on $1.1 trillion
NCRC Urges Fed To Stimulate Economy By Demanding Principal Reductions Read More »
Washington, DC — John Taylor, president & CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, issued this statement today in response to the Administration’s probe of mortgage servicers: “It was heartening to hear that the Obama Administration is investigating whether servicers are doing all they can to help homeowners avoid foreclosures, but their probe must include the abusive lending practices that led to the financial chaos that shattered our economy. The Administration should move quickly on the question of whether banks are doing what they must do and should do under housing laws to help borrowers because stemming foreclosures is key to ending the economic downturn. Foreclosures are the bane of our economic recovery, and we fail to see how a temporary national freeze will hurt the economy more than the foreclosures do. Nobody wants to freeze foreclosures on abandoned homes. And a foreclosure freeze gives us all the chance to counsel homeowners, work with lenders and servicers to fix the servicing pipeline, and keep responsible homeowners in their homes.
Federal Housing Probe On Target But Should Examine Loan Modifications Read More »
Rubber stamp foreclosures continue pattern of disrespect for consumers’ rights and legal process, creating moral hazard for financial services industry
Washington, DC – In a letter to President Obama on Friday, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition joined dozens of other consumer and civil rights
groups in a call for a temporary national moratorium on foreclosures, until an investigation can be completed to determine the extent to which consumers’ rights have been violated by servicers and lenders. NCRC also called on Congress and the Administration to pursue non-voluntary measures to resolve the foreclosure crisis.
“The rights of consumers have been treated as an afterthought by the financial industry,” said John Taylor, president & CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “Allowing the industry to rubber stamp foreclosures, and continue with sloppy, extralegal practices promotes a ‘moral hazard’ that encourages abusive behavior. Not intervening to investigate and ensure that consumers are adequately protected in the foreclosure process sends a message that mortgage lending and servicing continues to be the Wild West, wherein the industry is free to do what they want, without consideration for the borrower.”
“We need to end the voluntary reliance on the industry to do the right thing with respect to homeowners. Three years of following this approach on the foreclosure crisis has largely failed. Congress and the Administration should take this opportunity to finally put in place something that puts an end to unnecessary foreclosures, rather than delaying them,” said Taylor.
NCRC Supports Temporary National Moratorium on Foreclosures Read More »
Washington, DC – With the strong backing of House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, legislation to expand the lending requirements of the Community 
Reinvestment Act (CRA) to Wall Street was introduced yesterday. Such an expansion has the potential to spur significant job creation by leveraging hundreds of billions of dollars in private investments in small businesses and communities, without spending tax dollars, said John Taylor, CEO and President of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which worked closely with Frank in writing the bill. A section-by-section analysis of the bill is available at www.ncrc.org.
Bill To Expand CRA to Wall Street Introduced Read More »
Washington, DC–On Friday, September 24th, NCRC will testify before Federal Reserve Board on making critical improvements to HMDA data, so that lenders can be held accountable for the types of loans they are issuing to communities.
“We are in an era of some of the most complicated mortgage products to-date and given the strain that bad mortgage loans have put on our economy, lenders should be examined with a microscope now more than ever. In the era of reckless and corrupt lending, it is crucial that HMDA actually does what it was enacted to do, which is identify discriminatory lending patterns and determine if financial institutions are meeting local housing needs,” said John Taylor, president and CEO of NCRC, in reaction to the Federal Reserve’s 2009 HMDA data report.
The recently enacted Dodd-Frank bill mandates significant improvements to HMDA data. NCRC calls upon the Federal Reserve Board and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to expeditiously implement these improvements. In today’s release, the Federal Reserve Board states that the current HMDA data lacks information on credit scores, property values, and other factors necessary to fully account for disparities in racial access to affordable loans.
Improving HMDA Data can be the Answer to Averting another Foreclosure Epidemic Read More »
NCRC Urges Obama Administration To Mandate Loan Principal Reductions By Lenders & Ignore Calls For A “Do Nothing” Approach On Housing Washington, DC — National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) president & CEO John Taylor today urged the Obama Administration to ignore calls by some housing experts to “do nothing” on housing recovery. Instead, Taylor said
NCRC Urges Obama Administration To Mandate Loan Principal Reductions Read More »
NCRC frequently provides expert commentary on national television, including ABC’s Nightline, Bloomberg, the CBS Evening News, CNBC, CNN, CSPAN, NBC’s Dateline and Fox News. NCRC research and policy papers have been cited in hundreds of newspapers in the US including in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, the Chicago
Top Press Mentions Read More »
Hundreds of NCRC members expected to comment and testify before bank regulators this summer Atlanta, GA – Today, eight members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition testified before the bank regulatory agencies regarding ways to improve the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to leverage hundreds of billions of dollars more in private investments for job creation
Community Organizations Weigh in on the Community Reinvestment Act Read More »
Regulators Must Fulfill Spirit and Intent of Bill
Washington, DC – Today, John Taylor, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), will join President Obama for the signing ceremony of the financial reform bill. Taylor made this statement prior to the ceremony:
“Today’s signing of the financial reform legislation by President Obama marks the beginning of a renewed effort by the White House, Congress, regulators and by community and consumer groups like NCRC to hold Wall Street and the banks accountable to taxpayers, who bailed them out after a decade of reckless and greedy financial practices, designed solely to line their pockets. These practices led to an economic crisis unlike anything we have experienced as Americans since the Great Depression.”
John Taylor joins President Obama for Signing of Wall Street Reform Bill Read More »
Tepid Foreclosure Prevention Efforts Continue to Undermine Economic Recovery Permanent modifications disappoint, as cancellations trend substantially higher Washington DC- Today the Treasury Department and HUD released the latest numbers for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Nearly 400,000 homeowners have been granted a permanent modification under the program, which compares to over 5.3 million foreclosure
Tepid Foreclosure Prevention Efforts Read More »
Washington, DC – The Senate has passed the Wall Street reform bill this afternoon. John Taylor, president & CEO of NCRC made this statement regarding it passage:
“This bill represents the most significant overhaul of the financial system since the 1930s. But serious work remains; the proof of the bill’s worth will come not from what is written in the bill, but how the regulators interpret the bill, write the rules and then enforce them. Based on the job they did for the past decade, I will believe reform is here when I see it. The bill leaves too much to study, and the discretion of the existing regulators. For that reason, it’s a boon to Wall Street lobbyists, who will now be working behind the scenes to influence the regulators,” said John Taylor, president & CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “Given the severity of the economic crisis resulting from reckless and greedy practices on Wall Street, the bill could have been justifiably stronger. This is what happens when you allow the very industry that caused the problem to buy all the front row seats at the bargaining table.”
“We’re pleased to see the creation of an independent Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, whose sole purpose is to create and enforce rules that will protect consumers from faulty financial products like risky mortgages and high interest credit cards. But the consumer protections in the bill are not as bullet-proof as we would want. The same regulators who ignored consumer advocates’ warnings about predatory lending have veto power over the consumer agency; That club of regulators is very insular, and usually in agreement. They can kill serious reform, and the financial lobby remains much more influential with regulators than consumer advocates. And the veto standard of safety and soundness is too broad to the point of potentially including measures that affect the profitability of financial firms, even profits off of very risky practices. It’s critical that this agency get a strong director whose professional devotion is to protecting consumers, and that it remains independent from the regulators,” said Taylor.
“We’re also pleased that Congress accepted our recommendations on additional data enhancements covering home mortgage lending, including foreclosure data, and small business lending. These data enhancements will shine a powerful spotlight on banks efforts to lend for small business expansion and job creation and sustainable homeownership,” said Taylor.”
NCRC on Senate passage of the Wall Street Reform Bill Read More »
Washington, DC – Reacting to news that the House has passed the Wall Street reform bill this evening, John Taylor, president & CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), made this statement regarding its passage:
“NCRC is very pleased to see some major steps taken to overhaul the banking system. The bill offers necessary consumer protections that would not have been passed without President Obama’s leadership. The Senate needs to act quickly to send this legislation to the President’s desk. While it’s been distressing to see the outsize influence that the Wall Street banks have on Congress, it’s time now to get this done, and to move forward with other necessary measures to clean up the mess caused by the reckless and irresponsible behavior of Wall Street.”
“The creation of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) as an independent agency that will be able to create and enforce rules of the road will protect consumers from future abuses. It is critical however that this independence not be undermined by the fact that the Federal Reserve Bank will house, pay for and be part of the oversight agency that has the authority to veto decisions of the CFPB. Only time will tell as to how much influence the banking regulators and others have over this new important agency. We will be paying close attention to the implementation of the agency, to ensure it is set up in a way that maximizes its ability to protect consumers.”
Wall Street Reform Passes the House Read More »
Washington, DC- Early this morning, the Conference Committee passed the Financial Regulatory Reform Bill. John Taylor, NCRC’s president and CEO, made this statement regarding its passing:
“NCRC is very pleased to see some major steps being taken to overhaul the banking system. The bill offers major consumer protections that did not exist prior to President Obama’s and Barney Frank’s call for reform. The creation of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a independent agency should be able to create rules and regulations and protect consumers from future abuses. It is critical however that this independence not be undermined by the fact that the Federal Reserve Bank will house, pay for and be part of the oversight agency that has the authority to veto decisions of the CFPB. Only time will tell as to how much influence the banking regulators and others have over this new important agency.”
Major components of the bill include:
Consumer Agency:
Help for Homeowners:
Financial Regulatory Reform Passed by Conference Committee Read More »
