More Aggressive Fair Lending and CRA Examinations Announced by Obama Administration
Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 1:37pm
January 14, 2010
"Justice Dept. Fights Bias in Lending"
The headline above published in the New York Times announced the Obama administration’s
initiation of a more aggressive enforcement of Fair Lending laws. The article announced,
Under federal civil rights laws, a lending practice is illegal if it has a disparate impact on minority borrowers, and the Obama administration is signaling that it intends to make the enforcing of fair lending laws a signature policy push in 2010.
Bank Size Threshold Lowered for 2010 CRA Exams!
Submitted by admin on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 3:22pm
On December 23, 2009 the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) published the new asset size thresholds for banks to be examined under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
For the first time since the inception of the size standards, the size limits actually decreased!
Asset size for any bank is determined by the year-end balance sheet for the two most recent calendar years. Effective for exams conducted after January 1, 2010 the size thresholds (determined by the December 31, 2008 and 2009 balance sheets) will be:
CRA changes in the Treasury's plan
Submitted by admin on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 2:47pm
The recently released Treasury plan for regulatory reform includes some potentially significant CRA changes including more aggressive enforcement and a new Agency to evaluate banks' CRA performance:
The appropriate response to the crisis is not to weaken the CRA; it is rather to promote robust application of the CRA so that low-income households and communities have access to responsible financial services that truly meet their needs. To that end, we propose that the CFPA should have sole authority to evaluate institutions under the CRA.
Change in Call Report, with major implications for Community Reinvestment Act.
Submitted by admin on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 2:17pm
A change in the Call Report announced by the FDIC effective April 1, 2009 has potential major implications under the Community Reinvestment Act. The change pertains to Loans Secured By Real Estate
and can be found at A58-a in the Call Report Glossary. The revision now employs a formula to determine if a loan is wholly or substantially secured by a lien or liens on real property.
The formula states:
