The Department of Treasury released its long anticipated memorandum recommending changes and updates to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in early April. Spring is a season of renewal and CRA is a law that indeed needs refreshing and updating. Passed in 1977, it imposes an affirmative obligation on banks to serve the needs of local communities. The statute directs federal bank agencies to examine and rate banks on their lending and service in low- and moderate-income communities.

The Honorable Steven T. Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington DC, 20220 Click here for a summary of the letter.   Dear Secretary Mnuchin, In February of 2017, President Trump issued an executive order mandating that federal agencies regulate the financial industry consistent with core principles including […]

Federal Research Financial Crisis Inquiry Report (2010)[1] “Conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission” “We also studied at length how the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) affordable housing goals for the GSEs affected their investment in risky mortgages. Based on the evidence and interviews with dozens of individuals involved in this subject area, […]

Anthony Yezer’s recent white paper, Personal Privacy of HMDA in a World of Big Data, is part of the banking industry’s continued effort to limit public access to data collected by federal agencies.[1] Yezer’s paper, which was funded by the Mortgage Bankers Association, fundamentally challenges data collection and reporting under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act […]

Dear Representative, The undersigned civil rights, fair housing, consumer, and community organizations strongly urge you to oppose H.R. 2954, “the Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act”. The bill would undermine efforts to ensure that the nation’s mortgage lenders are serving all segments of the market fairly by exempting the vast majority of lenders from the updated […]

Introduction: Last year, President Trump issued an executive order mandating that federal agencies regulate the financial industry consistent with core principles including empowering consumers to make informed financial decisions and build wealth. In June, the Treasury Department responded to this executive order by publishing the first of a series of reports on the financial industry […]

December 8, 2017 Dear Conferees: We, the undersigned members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), are writing to urge you to adopt specific provisions included the Senate version of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” Although we have concerns overall with both versions of this bill, the Senate provisions regarding private activity bonds, the […]