Law Commons^™

The Community Reinvestment Act After Fifteen Years: It Works, But Strengthened Federal Enforcement Is Needed, Allen J. Fishbein

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) was adopted to curb redlining, the discriminatory mortgage lending practice whereby lenders refuse to make loans to certain geographic areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those areas or the age of their housing stock. The law reflected Congressional judgment that lending institutions were overlooking important credit needs within their local communities and that the banking regulators’ efforts were inadequate to deter this neglect. Although the law was rarely enforced, some organized community groups made it work. Today’s climate of bank restructuring presents new challenges to making the law effective. Despite its apparent …