NYHC submitted comments to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) regarding their proposed changes to Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Despite NYHC and other local/national groups calls for the suspension of both CRA comments and any non-COVID19 related comments, the comment period was not suspended. Comments are due on April 8th and we hope our partners will do their best to submit comments because CRA investment is essential for affordable housing development and preservation.
CRA requires banks to lend money, provide services and support community development activities in the communities where they are chartered to do business or receive deposits. This pivotal law was passed in 1977 to combat redlining. Over the past forty years, CRA has leveraged trillions of dollars in loans, investments and services for LMI communities nationwide and billions annually in New York City, where NYHC is located.
NYHC believes CRA is too valuable of a resource for LMI communities for reform to be done rashly, especially in the midst of a national public health crisis. NYHC urges the OCC and FDIC to abort its current quantitative-focused reform approach and instead work jointly with the Federal Reserve Board to craft new reform proposals that both provide clear and consistent CRA grading metrics for banks and protect the quality and impact of investments in local communities.
For NYHC’s full comments, please click here.