Law Commons^™

An Analysis Of The Implementation And Impact Of The 2004-2005 Amendments To The Community Reinvestment Act Regulations: The Continuting Importance Of The Cra Examination Process, Josh Silver, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

In 2004 and 2005, the four federal banking agencies that enforce the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) amended their CRA regulations. Community groups were concerned that these amendments would have a negative impact on bank CRA performance. In particular, they were concerned that community development lending and investment and the provision of bank branches and other banking services in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods would decline. This article studies the impact of the changes. In summary, the study found that: 1) the CRA examination process has an impact on bank behavior; 2) community development lending and investment by certain lending institutions declined …

Advancing The Cra—Using The Cra's Strategic Plan Option To Promote Community Inclusion: The Cra And Community Inclusion, Cassandra Jones Havard

All Faculty Scholarship

Banks, banking regulators, and community organizations have spent nearly thirty years interpreting and re-interpreting the simple but ambiguous mandate of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The statute imposes an affirmative duty requiring "regulated financial institutions to have continuing... obligations to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered." The CRA was met with much resistance and lax enforcement for almost a decade. Active protest from community groups, a more defined CRA exam, and innovative, profitable lending strategies, have resulted in a dramatic increase in community reinvestment dollar commitments and in loans to low- and …

To Lend Or Not To Lend: What The Cra Ought To Say About Sub-Prime And Predatory Lending, Cassandra Jones Havard

All Faculty Scholarship

Policies that support the expansion of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons must be reconciled with those policies that undercut the sustainability of home ownership. The sub-prime market represents a much needed expansion of credit markets to those who have been denied access to credit though they are creditworthy. The high failure rate of the sub-prime market indicates that market forces are ineffective in halting this economic abuse. This article argues that the public policy choices and justifications for certain practices have marginalized the concerns of particular consumer classes. It challenges the premise that the free market can and …

The Bench Trial: A More Beneficial Alternative To Arbitration Of Title Vii Claims, Dianne Larocca

Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition

No abstract provided.

How To Steal A Trillion: The Uses Of Laws About Lawmaking In 2001, Charles Tiefer

All Faculty Scholarship

How did Congress pass President Bush's 2001 trillion-dollar tax cut pass without the necessary consensus shape and without the 60 Senate votes required to overcome resistance? How was the House able to give "fast track" treatment to laws designed to implement future trade deals? How was the 2001 Congress able to reject a new workplace ergonomic rule that would otherwise become law? In 2001, American lawmakers passed laws to make controversial laws, forcing the important question about whether laws about lawmaking actually serve the public interest.

In this article, the author explores the constitutional limits on laws about lawmaking and …

Of Dams And Salmon In The Columbia/Snake Basin: Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?, Don B. Miller

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

106 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains 4 pages of references.

Race, Gender, “Redlining,” And The Discriminatory Access To Loans, Credit, And Insurance: An Historical And Empirical Analysis Of Consumers Who Sued Lenders And Insurers In Federal And State Courts, 1950-1995, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

Courts have failed to consistently remedy insurers’ and lenders’ discrimination against low-income individuals, women, and minorities. State and federal courts have tried to resolve disputes involving redlining, unequal access to capital, and insurance discrimination. Because of courts’ failures, Congress passed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 (“ECOA”) and the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (“CRA”) to protect minorities and low income individuals. But the ECOA and CRA have not achieved their stated goals of eradicating either insurance or mortgage redlining.

In most states, the responsibility of enforcing federal fair-lending laws and eradicating all sorts of financial redlining is given …

Lending Discsrimination: Economic Theory, Econometric Evidence, And The Community Reinvestment Act, Vincent D. Rougeau, Keith N. Hylton

Journal Articles

Although it has been settled law for almost two decades, there has been a heightened interest in the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) over the last several years. One factor driving this interest is the continuing economic decline of the inner cities and the consequent widening of the wealth gap between cities and surrounding suburbs in many areas of the country. A second factor is the consolidation of the banking industry, which has encouraged expansion-oriented banks to improve their CRA ratings to gain the approval of regulators. A recent effort to enhance enforcement of the statute, in part the result of …

A Guide To Enforcing The Community Reinvestment Act, Richard D. Marsico

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.