NCRC Summary of Major CRA & Fair Lending Bills

Below is a summary of current CRA and fair lending bills. Please take a moment to read through the document and see if your member of Congress is co-sponsoring any of the bills. If not, please contact your member of Congress, and ask him or her to co-sponsor.

CRA Modernization Act of 2001

What: Representatives Gutierrez (D-IL) and Barrett (D-WI) and 32 other Representatives have sponsored the Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2001, H.R. 865. This legislation will allow the Community Reinvestment Act to keep pace with the tremendous changes taking place in the financial industry by extending CRA to all lending affiliates of financial holding companies. Mortgage companies, insurance agents and other non-traditional lending affiliates of holding companies would be required to comply with CRA. Lenders would be penalized on CRA exams for making predatory loans. In addition, the bill would extend CRA-like requirements to insurance companies and securities firms. Insurance companies would be required to publicly disclose data on the race, income and gender of their customers. Mergers between depository and non-depository institutions would be subject to public comment periods with regulatory agency decisions based on CRA, fair lending, safety and soundness and anti-trust factors.

Why: The Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve Board economists have found that CRA, fair lending laws, and CRA agreements increase the number of loans to minority and low- and moderate-income communities. CRA needs to be updated to take into account the tremendous changes in the financial industry if it is to be as successful in the first decade of the 21st century as it was in the 1990’s.

Anti-Predatory Lending Bills

What: Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Sarbanes (D-MD) and Representatives LaFalce (D-NY) and Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced anti-predatory bills last year that would prohibit abusive loan terms and conditions on high interest-rate loans. These terms include single premium credit insurance, large prepayment penalties, high balloon payments, and mandatory arbitration. The bills also prohibit lending without regard of the borrower ability to repay and flipping, or the repeated refinancing of loans tacking on higher fees and/or increasing interest rates. The Schakowsky bill mandates the Annual Percentage Rate in HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) data (the CRA modernization bill likewise includes fees and interest rates in HMDA). Rep. LaFalce re-introduced his anti-predatory bill as H.R. 1051. The other bills from last year will be re-introduced shortly.

NCRC also supports another LaFalce bill, HR 1053 or the Equal Credit Enhancement and Neighborhood Preservation Act. The bill requires lenders to offer the most favorable terms possible to borrowers based on their credit history. It also makes it illegal to steer borrowers on the basis of their race, gender, or age to high cost loans with onerous terms. Finally, the bill mandates the disclosure of the Annual Percentage Rate, debt-to-income, loan-to-value, and other critical information in HMDA data that will make it possible for neighborhoods to identify which lenders are responsible, and which lenders are out to gouge borrowers. We also strongly back LaFalce bill H.R. 1055 that would ban the involvement of federally insured depository institutions in payday lending. Payday lending, just like predatory lending, is a wealth-stripping scourge.

Why: Predatory lending is threatening the reinvestment gains made possible by CRA and the nation’s fair lending laws. Community groups around the country share horror stories of predatory lenders victimizing minorities, senior citizens, and low- and moderate-income homeowners. The Department of Housing and Urban Development documents that African-American neighborhoods are five times more likely to receive subprime refinance loans than white neighborhoods. The Research Institute for Housing America finds that minorities are more likely to receive subprime loans than whites even after controlling for credit risk factors. Additional consumer and community protections are needed to make sure that subprime lending is free of price discrimination and predatory terms and conditions.

Data Disclosure Bills

What: Rep. McGovern (D-MA) will introduce a bill shortly to require the race and gender of small business borrowers as part of the CRA small business data. Such a requirement is also part of the CRA modernization bill. In addition, the Schakowsky anti-predatory bill and the CRA modernization bill contain enhancements to HMDA data to include the APR as well as loan fees.

Why: Data disclosure results in increases in loans to traditionally underserved populations. This occurred when Congress improved HMDA data in 1990 to include the race, gender, and income of borrowers. It is now time to do the same for the CRA small business data. The disclosure of interest rates and fees in HMDA data will help community groups and regulatory agencies identify which lenders are making high interest rate loans with onerous terms and conditions.

Remove Harmful Provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999

NCRC believes that we must restore the two-year CRA exam review for small banks. CRA sunshine disclosure requirements must be repealed or significantly scaled back. For more details, see the NCRC Briefing Paper on CRA and the Fair Lending Laws.

Co-Sponsors of CRA Modernization Act of 2001

The CRA Modernization Act of 2001 (H.R. 865), introduced by Congressmen Barrett and Gutierrez, now has 34 co-sponsors! Current Co-sponsors include:

Rep Acevedo-Vila, Anibal (D-PR)
Rep Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI)
Rep Blagojevich, Rod R. (D-IL)
Rep Bonior, David E. (D-MI)
Rep Borski, Robert A. (D-PA)
Rep Brown, Corrine (D-FL)
Rep Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)
Rep Capuano, Michael E. (D-MA)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep Davis, Danny K. (D--IL)
Rep Davis, Susan A. (D-CA)
Rep Doyle, Michael F. (D-PA)
Rep Engel, Eliot L. (D-NY)
Rep Filner, Bob (D-CA)
Rep Frank, Barney (D-MA)
Rep Frost, Martin (D-TX)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Hooley, Darlene (D-OR)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. (D-OH)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Lipinski, William O. (D-IL)
Rep McDermott, Jim (D-WA)
Rep McGovern, James P. (D-MA)
Rep McKinney, Cynthia A. (D-GA)
Rep Meek, Carrie P. (D-FL)
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D-DC)
Rep Pastor, Ed (D-AZ)
Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby L. (D-IL)
Rep Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
Rep Towns, Edolphus (D-NY)
Rep Waxman, Henry A. (D-CA)

Anti-Predatory Lending

The fourteen current co-sponsors of Rep. LaFalce's Predatory Lending Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 1051) include:

Rep Capuano, Michael E.(D-MA)
Rep. Carson, Julia (D-IN)
Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Rep Engel, Eliot L.(D-NY)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Kanjorski, Paul E. (D-PA)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. (D-NY)
Rep Miller, George (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby L (D-IL)
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)

Congressman LaFalce has introduced two other significant bills deserving support.

The Equal Credit Enhancement and Neighborhood Protection Act (H.R. 1053) expands federal fair lending protections to combat racial steering and reverse redlining practices in subprime credit and enhances HMDA data reporting on credit availability and cost in poor and minority neighborhoods. The ten current co-sponsors include:

Rep Capuano, Michael E.(D-MA)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Miller, George (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby, L (D-IL)
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)

The Payday Loan Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 1055) prohibits federally regulated institutions from participating in payday lending, prohibits use of instruments drawn on federally-insured accounts as collateral for payday loans, and applies Truth in Lending Act disclosure protections to payday loans. There are currently twelve co-sponsors:

Rep Capuano, Michael E.(D-MA)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Kanjorski, Paul E. (D-PA)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. (D-NY)
Rep Miller, George (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby L (D-IL)
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)

The full text of the bills, their status, and up to date lists of co-sponsors can be obtained on the internet at thomas.loc.gov

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NCRC Summary of Major CRA & Fair Lending Bills

Below is a summary of current CRA and fair lending bills. Please take a moment to read through the document and see if your member of Congress is co-sponsoring any of the bills. If not, please contact your member of Congress, and ask him or her to co-sponsor.
CRA Modernization Act of 2001

What: Representatives Gutierrez (D-IL) and Barrett (D-WI) and 32 other Representatives have sponsored the Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2001, H.R. 865. This legislation will allow the Community Reinvestment Act to keep pace with the tremendous changes taking place in the financial industry by extending CRA to all lending affiliates of financial holding companies. Mortgage companies, insurance agents and other non-traditional lending affiliates of holding companies would be required to comply with CRA. Lenders would be penalized on CRA exams for making predatory loans. In addition, the bill would extend CRA-like requirements to insurance companies and securities firms. Insurance companies would be required to publicly disclose data on the race, income and gender of their customers. Mergers between depository and non-depository institutions would be subject to public comment periods with regulatory agency decisions based on CRA, fair lending, safety and soundness and anti-trust factors.

Why: The Department of Treasury and Federal Reserve Board economists have found that CRA, fair lending laws, and CRA agreements increase the number of loans to minority and low- and moderate-income communities. CRA needs to be updated to take into account the tremendous changes in the financial industry if it is to be as successful in the first decade of the 21st century as it was in the 1990’s.

Anti-Predatory Lending Bills

What: Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Sarbanes (D-MD) and Representatives LaFalce (D-NY) and Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced anti-predatory bills last year that would prohibit abusive loan terms and conditions on high interest-rate loans. These terms include single premium credit insurance, large prepayment penalties, high balloon payments, and mandatory arbitration. The bills also prohibit lending without regard of the borrower ability to repay and flipping, or the repeated refinancing of loans tacking on higher fees and/or increasing interest rates. The Schakowsky bill mandates the Annual Percentage Rate in HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) data (the CRA modernization bill likewise includes fees and interest rates in HMDA). Rep. LaFalce re-introduced his anti-predatory bill as H.R. 1051. The other bills from last year will be re-introduced shortly.

NCRC also supports another LaFalce bill, HR 1053 or the Equal Credit Enhancement and Neighborhood Preservation Act. The bill requires lenders to offer the most favorable terms possible to borrowers based on their credit history. It also makes it illegal to steer borrowers on the basis of their race, gender, or age to high cost loans with onerous terms. Finally, the bill mandates the disclosure of the Annual Percentage Rate, debt-to-income, loan-to-value, and other critical information in HMDA data that will make it possible for neighborhoods to identify which lenders are responsible, and which lenders are out to gouge borrowers. We also strongly back LaFalce bill H.R. 1055 that would ban the involvement of federally insured depository institutions in payday lending. Payday lending, just like predatory lending, is a wealth-stripping scourge.

Why: Predatory lending is threatening the reinvestment gains made possible by CRA and the nation’s fair lending laws. Community groups around the country share horror stories of predatory lenders victimizing minorities, senior citizens, and low- and moderate-income homeowners. The Department of Housing and Urban Development documents that African-American neighborhoods are five times more likely to receive subprime refinance loans than white neighborhoods. The Research Institute for Housing America finds that minorities are more likely to receive subprime loans than whites even after controlling for credit risk factors. Additional consumer and community protections are needed to make sure that subprime lending is free of price discrimination and predatory terms and conditions.

Data Disclosure Bills

What: Rep. McGovern (D-MA) will introduce a bill shortly to require the race and gender of small business borrowers as part of the CRA small business data. Such a requirement is also part of the CRA modernization bill. In addition, the Schakowsky anti-predatory bill and the CRA modernization bill contain enhancements to HMDA data to include the APR as well as loan fees.

Why: Data disclosure results in increases in loans to traditionally underserved populations. This occurred when Congress improved HMDA data in 1990 to include the race, gender, and income of borrowers. It is now time to do the same for the CRA small business data. The disclosure of interest rates and fees in HMDA data will help community groups and regulatory agencies identify which lenders are making high interest rate loans with onerous terms and conditions.

Remove Harmful Provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999

NCRC believes that we must restore the two-year CRA exam review for small banks. CRA sunshine disclosure requirements must be repealed or significantly scaled back. For more details, see the NCRC Briefing Paper on CRA and the Fair Lending Laws.

Co-Sponsors of CRA Modernization Act of 2001

The CRA Modernization Act of 2001 (H.R. 865), introduced by Congressmen Barrett and Gutierrez, now has 34 co-sponsors! Current Co-sponsors include:

Rep Acevedo-Vila, Anibal (D-PR)
Rep Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI)
Rep Blagojevich, Rod R. (D-IL)
Rep Bonior, David E. (D-MI)
Rep Borski, Robert A. (D-PA)
Rep Brown, Corrine (D-FL)
Rep Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)
Rep Capuano, Michael E. (D-MA)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep Davis, Danny K. (D--IL)
Rep Davis, Susan A. (D-CA)
Rep Doyle, Michael F. (D-PA)
Rep Engel, Eliot L. (D-NY)
Rep Filner, Bob (D-CA)
Rep Frank, Barney (D-MA)
Rep Frost, Martin (D-TX)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Hooley, Darlene (D-OR)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. (D-OH)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Lipinski, William O. (D-IL)
Rep McDermott, Jim (D-WA)
Rep McGovern, James P. (D-MA)
Rep McKinney, Cynthia A. (D-GA)
Rep Meek, Carrie P. (D-FL)
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D-DC)
Rep Pastor, Ed (D-AZ)
Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby L. (D-IL)
Rep Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
Rep Towns, Edolphus (D-NY)
Rep Waxman, Henry A. (D-CA)

Anti-Predatory Lending

The fourteen current co-sponsors of Rep. LaFalce's Predatory Lending Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 1051) include:

Rep Capuano, Michael E.(D-MA)
Rep. Carson, Julia (D-IN)
Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Rep Engel, Eliot L.(D-NY)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Kanjorski, Paul E. (D-PA)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. (D-NY)
Rep Miller, George (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby L (D-IL)
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)

Congressman LaFalce has introduced two other significant bills deserving support.

The Equal Credit Enhancement and Neighborhood Protection Act (H.R. 1053) expands federal fair lending protections to combat racial steering and reverse redlining practices in subprime credit and enhances HMDA data reporting on credit availability and cost in poor and minority neighborhoods. The ten current co-sponsors include:

Rep Capuano, Michael E.(D-MA)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Miller, George (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby, L (D-IL)
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)

The Payday Loan Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 1055) prohibits federally regulated institutions from participating in payday lending, prohibits use of instruments drawn on federally-insured accounts as collateral for payday loans, and applies Truth in Lending Act disclosure protections to payday loans. There are currently twelve co-sponsors:

Rep Capuano, Michael E.(D-MA)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Danny (D-IL)
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. (D-IL)
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY)
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH)
Rep Kanjorski, Paul E. (D-PA)
Rep Lee, Barbara (D-CA)
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. (D-NY)
Rep Miller, George (D-CA)
Rep Rush, Bobby L (D-IL)
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL)

The full text of the bills, their status, and up to date lists of co-sponsors can be obtained on the internet at thomas.loc.gov

Last Modified: Tuesday, May 1, 2001

National Community Reinvestment Coalition
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733 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 628-8866
Fax: (202) 628-9800