In a letter written and submitted by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), the coalition of housing, consumer protection and community development organizations urged the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to drop the idea of a “one-ratio” metric from new CRA rules expected to be proposed by the agencies this fall.

While the administration says affordable housing goals would be replaced with a more “efficient, transparent, and accountable mechanism,” like a fee that would go to HUD to promote affordable housing, consumer and civil rights groups are suspicious. “Essentially they are trying to shrink the government footprint in the market and introduce private guarantors that won’t have the same obligations as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Jesse Van Tol, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.