Docket Number R-1723 and RIN Number 7100-AF94
To Whom it May Concern:
The Federal Reserve Board (Fed) must strengthen the rigor of CRA exams to promote recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fed has described approaches in its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on CRA that will make CRA exams more objective and transparent. Yet, questions remain about whether the Fed’s approach will reduce the high rate of CRA inflation. If nearly every bank continues to pass their CRA exams, banks will not engage in strenuous efforts to help communities of color and low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods recover from the pandemic’s devastation.
The undersigned organizations support the views of this letter. We work daily in promoting reinvestment and fair lending in underserved communities across the country.
Strengthening CRA is a critical component of a just recovery
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) recently released a major report finding significant correlations between redlining and susceptibility to COVID-19. In the 1930s, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) created maps that rated neighborhoods based on the risk of lending in them. Working-class neighborhoods and communities of color usually received the riskiest designation of hazardous. The designations subsequently facilitated redlining and discrimination against these neighborhoods, which remain starved of credit and are predominantly lower-income and minority. These neighborhoods also have the highest incidence of health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, kidney disease and stroke, which make residents more susceptible to COVID-19. Life expectancy is almost four years lower in the redlined communities than the neighborhoods not designated as hazardous by HOLC.
Since the start of the pandemic, the number of Black business owners dropped by 440,000, or 41%, compared to just a 17% decline in white small business owners. Discrimination in lending contributes significantly to racial disparities in small business survival rates. An NCRC investigation found that African American testers applying for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for their small businesses during the pandemic were likely to receive less information or encouragement to apply than white testers. CRA must be strengthened considerably to combat discrimination and help our communities recover from the pandemic.
The Federal Reserve proposal must be strengthened to prevent grade inflation
However, it is unclear if the Fed’s ANPR proposals will address CRA ratings inflation. The Fed emphasizes improving the performance measures on CRA exams, including those used on the lending test that compare a bank’s percent of loans to LMI borrowers and communities to other lenders. However, the Fed proposes thresholds that appear to reproduce the high ratings on CRA exams. The Fed does not describe in any detail the impact of its initial thresholds on CRA ratings and hints the thresholds replicate the current CRA ratings distribution.
Moreover, the Fed is proposing to reduce the number of ratings on a state level and on subtests from five to four. This proposal would result in fewer distinctions in performance, whereas a new CRA exam system must reveal more distinctions in performance in order to motivate banks to be more responsive to COVID-19 recovery needs. Five ratings must be retained on the state level and on subtests. In addition, a point scale that can reveal more distinctions in performance should supplement the overall ratings.
The Federal Reserve proposal should be strengthened to increase lending to people of color
The Fed recognizes the importance of addressing racial inequities. It asks the public whether underserved areas should be designated based on high levels of poverty or low levels of retail lending. We support NCRC’s designation of underserved census tracts based on low levels of lending, which would effectively target neighborhoods redlined because of the HOLC classifications.
We also ask the Fed to consider explicitly including race on CRA exams. The agencies have hesitated to do so, but we believe that the CRA statute allows this since the law emphasizes banks meeting credit needs in all communities, particularly underserved ones. CRA exams could include performance measures assessing lending, investing, branching and services to people of color and communities of color. In addition, CRA exams can include racial and ethnic demographic data in performance context analysis and require banks to affirmatively include communities of color in their assessment areas (geographical areas on CRA exams). The Fed could also provide CRA consideration for community development lending and investing in majority minority census tracts outside of assessment areas, just as the Fed is considering for Indian Country and other underserved areas.
Assessment areas must support and reflect a commitment to local lending, investments and services
We support the Fed’s proposals to expand assessment areas on CRA exams. In addition to areas around branches, assessment areas must also include areas outside of branches with significant amounts of bank lending or deposit-taking. We do not support the idea of a national assessment area for internet banks that the Fed discusses. Instead, we believe that data analysis can designate areas where high numbers of retail loans or deposits are located. Because redlining is a local phenomenon, banks, including branchless banks or those that have online and branch operations, must have local assessment areas for evaluating their performance.
We applaud the Fed proposal to eliminate distinctions between full-scope and limited-scope assessment areas. Full-scope assessment areas, which are usually the largest cities, count more on current CRA exams than limited-scope areas that generally are smaller cities and rural counties. Often, communities of color, Native American communities, and other underserved communities continue to receive less CRA-related loans and investments because they are in limited-scope areas.
CRA modernization must maintain its focus on lower-income communities and better target communities of color
Unlike the Office of the Comptroller (OCC), the Fed generally does not stray away from the focus on LMI communities in its ANPR proposals. However, we do not support expanding financial education for clients of any income level as suggested by the Fed since low- and moderate-income (LMI) consumers and people of color are most likely to be unbanked or underbanked, as revealed by surveys conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The Fed can designate additional subgroups in the population such as people of color, people with disabilities or older adults for whom CRA credit for financial education or other community development activity can be earned instead of opening it up to everyone regardless of need. Likewise, the Fed should further develop its procedures for awarding CRA credit for financing affordable housing that is not subsidized so that such financing actually serves LMI tenants.
Collecting improved community development and deposit data
Finally, the Fed should pursue its proposals to collect improved community development and deposit data. Community development and deposit data should be collected on a census tract level or at least on a county level so that CRA exams can better target community development financing to areas of need.
Conclusion
We are appreciative of the direction the Fed has embarked on its ANPR, but caution that the Fed must not end up with a set of proposals that replicate existing CRA ratings inflation as this will not help our communities devastated by COVID-19. We believe that this proposal serves as an important starting point for an interagency rulemaking that will strengthen CRA and take a critical step towards more financially resilient communities and an equitable recovery.
Sincerely,
National Groups
National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
Better Markets
Center for Community Progress
Community Reinvestment Fund, USA
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Families USA
NAACP
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)
National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders
National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB)
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of our low-income clients)
National Housing Resource Center
National NeighborWorks Association
National Urban League
Opportunity Finance Network
Public Citizen
Small Business Majority
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
U.S. Conference of Mayors
U.S. PIRG Education Fund
State Groups
Arizona
Arizona Housing Coalition
California
Build Healthy Places Network
CAARMA
California Reinvestment Coalition
CDC Small Business Finance
EAH Housing
FACES Family Assessment Counseling & Education Services Inc.
Grounded Solutions Network
Pacific Community Ventures
Peoples’ Self-Help Housing
The Greenlining Institute
United Way of Kern County
Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation
Colorodo
Mi Casa Resource Center
Delaware
Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc.
Florida
Affordable Homeownership Foundation, Inc.
Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida
H.E.L.P. Community Development Corp
Metro North Community Development Corp.
New Urban Development LLC
Georgia
Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc.
Hawaii
Hawai‘i Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development
Illinois
American Muslim Health Professionals
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council
Housing Action Illinois
The Resurrection Project
Universal Housing Solutions CDC
Woodstock Institute
Continuum of Care Network NWI, Inc..
Indiana
Lafayette Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. dba HomesteadCS
Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance
Prosperity Indiana
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Communities Action Network
Maryland
Housing Options & Planning Enterprises, Inc.
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Missouri
Consumers Council of Missouri
Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council
R.A.A. – Ready, Aim, Advocate
Mississippi
Covenant Faith Outreach Ministries Inc./Covenant CDC
North Carolina
Centre for Homeownership & Economic Development
Henderson and Company
Kingdom Community Development Corporation
Rebuild Durham Inc
Reinvestment Partners
The Collaborative of NC
New Jersey
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Mexico
Southwest Neighborhood Housing Services
New York
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development
Fair Finance Watch
Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Queens CDC
Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Inc.
Rural Housing Opportunities Corp.
Ohio
City of Toledo
Home Repair Resource Center
Homes on the Hill, CDC
Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity
Perfecting Saints Heart to Heart Ministries, INC
Village Capital Corporation
Oregon
CASA of Oregon
Housing Oregon
Pennsylvania
BLWDC
Ceiba
Coalition of African Communities (AFRICOM)
Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
Lower Marshall-Shadeland Development Initaitive
Pennsylvania Home Lending Collaborative, INC
Rhode Island
HousingWorks RI
Tennessee
United Housing
Our Casas Resident Council Inc.
Texas
Southern Dallas Progress Community Development Corporation
Wisconsin
Cassandra M Flagg Consulting Services LLC
Community Advocates, Inc.
Disability Justice
Foxxy Locs LLC
Greater Milwaukee National Association of Hispanic Nurses
Green Homeowners United
Harambee Neighborhood Improvement District #7
Havenwoods EDC
KLD Construction Management Services, LLC
Lloyd Consulting, Inc.
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
Milwaukee Christian Center
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity
Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition
MKE United – Housing Committee
Prism Economic Development Corporation
Safe & Sound
SecureFutures Foundation, Inc.
The Greater Milwaukee Foundation
The Milwaukee Christian Center
Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin(UEDA))
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
