Housing Wire, June 9, 2021, IMBs have a duty to serve lower-income communities
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently observed that across all kinds of financial services, activities that had once been principally the province of banks have moved into the nonbank sector, including IMBs. In discussing whether more financial institutions should have a duty to serve the capital and credit needs of lower-income communities — an obligation akin to that of banks under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) — he said that generally “like activities should have like regulation,” and that consumers require protection and lower-income communities require credit support regardless of the nature of the financial institution providing those services.
He’s right and we disagree with the Community Home Lenders Association’s assertion that such an affirmative obligation should not also extend to independent mortgage companies
This was written by NCRC Chief Executive Officer Jesse Van Tol
