DSNews, November 11, The ‘Unclear’ Future of the Community Reinvestment Act
A primary goal of 1977’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was to reverse the effects of redlining, a practice by which the federal government and banks actively avoided lending to borrowers from lower-income and minority neighborhoods.
Some housing advocates believe pending rule changes will weaken the CRA and that, though it could use some updates, now is not the time.
Josh Silver, Senior Advisor at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, told BuildingGreen the CRA, in addition to needing updates that take into consideration the proliferation of electronic banking, could do more to benefit struggling communities. He added that the order has not changed at all since 1995.
“It has been really important for driving investments,” he told BuildingGreen of the act, “but it hasn’t always reached the communities that are harder hit during times of economic uncertainty and crisis.”
