Politico, January 6, 2020: Bank Cop Faces Grassroots Resistance on Remake of Anti-redlining Law
Community groups across the U.S. are mobilizing to oppose a plan by President Donald Trump’s bank regulators to radically remake a landmark law designed to combat discriminatory lending, saying the proposal would undercut that goal.
The groups say the proposed regulation, which Otting released jointly with the FDIC on Dec. 12, will weaken the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law that requires banks to lend to lower-income neighborhoods to end the discriminatory practice called redlining. It also gives regulators the power to judge how well the lenders comply, a process that banks say is often arbitrary and lacks transparency.
The activists argue that Otting’s proposal would give lenders a wide berth to satisfy the law’s requirements through big dollar projects — such as sports stadiums — without consulting local residents.
“This is issue No. 1,” said Jesse Van Tol, who heads the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a collection of more than 600 groups that pressure banks to invest more in underserved communities. “We’re rallying everyone who cares about civil rights, affordable housing, community development and basic fairness to oppose these rules, and we aren’t alone.”
