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View from the street of a bank built in 1917. From the photographer: The building features a red brick exterior with terra cotta trim, decorative panels with Sullivanesque detailing, Sullivanesque trim, a decorative mosaic in the tympanum below the arch above the front entrance with the word “Thrift” in gold lettering in the middle of an expanse of blue tile and decorative white, cream, green, purple, red, and orange tile accents, decorative metal lettering on the facade above the arch displaying the words “The People’s Federal Savings & Loan Assn." ... Gargoyles above the pilasters framing the front entrance, fixed glass windows at the corners, brass double doors.

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Policy

Could Lack of Impact Assessment in OCC and FDIC Proposal Break CRA?

Proposed changes to CRA by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC conflict with the best practices of community development.

redlining map and racial equity
Community Development Field

Redlining Would Be Relegalized by CRA Reform Proposal

In an attempt to make compliance easier for banks, regulators are proposing to incentivize the very thing the Community Reinvestment Act was written to fight.

CRA oped
Community Reinvestment Act

Protecting the Community Reinvestment Act Is an Investment in Economic Justice

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation just released a set of proposed rules for the Community Reinvestment Act that threaten the very heart of the law.

bank brach counters
Community Development Field

New Writings Suggest Incremental Change Is Best Path for CRA Reform

These writings suggest that careful reform of CRA regulations can build upon the progress in lending and investing if the reforms are incremental instead of “transformational.” 

Community Reinvestment Act

Improving CRA for Rural America

The Community Reinvestment Act regulations should be recrafted to incentivize investments in underserved and economically distressed communities, many of which are rural.

home with sold sign
Policy

Don’t Diminish the Importance of Homeownership in CRA Reform

A significant reduction in attention paid to home mortgage lending on CRA exams would be neither economically efficient nor equitable.

yellow arrows painted on sidewalk
Community Development Field

Where Banks and the Public Agree on CRA . . . and Disagree

Despite a CRA exam pass rate of 98 percent, the major thrust of bank comments is that they want easier exams with fewer moving parts and less uncertainty.

The spires and statue atop an old bank building.
Policy

Warren Housing Bill Presents a Clear Choice on CRA

Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have offered contrasting visions for the future of CRA. How do they differ, and what would the implications for historically disinvested communities be?

The spires and statue atop an old bank building.
Community Reinvestment Act

CRA “Reform” Under Trump Threatens Communities of Color and the 99 Percent

Banks enjoy consumer and taxpayer-funded privileges, such as deposit insurance, and not too long ago, subsidized trillion-dollar bailouts. It’s not too much to insist that they invest a fair share of those dollars back into all of our communities.

Health

How the Community Reinvestment Act Can Help Flint

The audacious and callous decisions leading to the tragedy in Flint, Michigan are cruel and beyond comprehension. What is needed is an all-out effort by all sectors of society–not only […]

A man, wearing a blue shirt, gives a presentation at a conference. He stands in front of a screen.
Community Reinvestment Act

The Role of Government in Impact Investing

Impact investing may seem like a market-based concept, but government can and does support, enable, and participate in it many ways.

Community Reinvestment Act

Shel Trapp, Organizer, NPA Founder, Dies at 75

Shel Trapp has died at the age of 75 after a brief illness. Along with NPA (National People’s Action) co-founder Gale Cincotta, Shel was central to the passage of HMDA […]