With proposed changes to Community Reinvestment Act rules expected in late summer or early fall, we must remind federal regulatory agencies not to diminish the importance of home mortgage lending in CRA exams.
A coalition of housing, consumer protection and community development organizations yesterday called on the Trump administration to not undermine policies that help low- and moderate-income (LMI) people buy homes, and avoid changes that would make home-buying harder for millions.
The NCRC study, based on government exams of the nation’s 50 biggest banks, found some banks get credit for investments outside of their assessment areas (AAs) even when those banks underinvested in the areas they are supposed to serve first. Meanwhile, other banks get little or no credit outside of assessment areas.
Data is the sunlight that makes possible the fight against discrimination. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), however, is considering changing its method of disseminating loan data that would make it less readily available to the public and significantly hamper our collective ability to root out unfair and discriminatory practices.
Data on community development lending and investing is lacking on a census tract level, making the information incomplete and difficult to assess. However, this is not the case for home mortgage lending data and small business loan data. If the federal regulatory agencies truly want to reform CRA, the first place to start is with better data. It would be a win-win for both banks and community organizations by facilitating identification of underserved areas. It would also further CRA’s objectives of directing access to credit and capital where it is needed most.
Reforming CRA must not become a pretext for relaxing CRA. The focus of these principles are areas we expect the federal bank agencies to consider in reforming CRA.
Chase’s arrival in the D.C. area is significant in part because it has been accused of lending discrimination here.
The Department of Treasury has released a long-awaited report recommending the first meaningful reform to the Community Reinvestment Act since 1995.
Chase’s only DC office isn’t technically a branch, which allows it to dodge CRA regulations.
