Maryellen J. Lewis
ChairMichigan Community Reinvestment Coalition Lansing, MI
ChairMichigan Community Reinvestment Coalition Lansing, MI
Executive Director Housing Assistance Council Washington, DC
Director, Fair Lending
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
Milwaukee, WI
Sr. Director, Economic Development PathStone Rochester, NY
NCRC provides a variety of data analysis services to its members.  Valued in the thousands of dollars, these analyses describe overall home and small business lending trends on the state, local and neighborhood levels. NCRC members also receive analyses of the lending performance of specific lenders.
NCRC has conducted several in-depth studies for public sector clients.  For the City of Philadelphia, PA, NCRC assessed the extent to which banks receiving City deposits were making home and small business loans in minority and working-class communities. NCRC’s two studies for Philadelphia documented progress (an increase in home lending by the banks), identified stakeholders …
With new information in HMDA data concerning high-cost loans, NCRC has created a series of studies documenting that minorities, women and the elderly receive a disproportionate amount of high-cost or subprime loans. When a group of borrowers receives a disproportionate amount of such loans, excessive fees, interest rates and other unfair practices become more likely, …
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are known as Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) because of considerable benefits, such as tax exemptions, that they receive from the Federal government. The GSEs serve a critical function as they buy loans from banks, enabling banks to make more loans. With GSE reform as a major priority for Congress, NCRC will …
Enacted by Congress in 1975, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires banks, savings and loan associations and other financial institutions to publicly report detailed data on their home lending activity. Over the years, community organizations and concerned citizens have used HMDA data as a tool to determine which banks are lending in their community. …
Data disclosures must be enhanced for small business lending so that the public can thoroughly assess financial institutions’ lending practices to women, minorities, and working-class Americans. With enhanced data disclosure, regulatory agencies can more effectively enforce fair lending laws and banks are generally more motivated to serve overlooked small businesses. NCRC applauds Congress for passing …
Since it was passed in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has helped infuse trillions of dollars in community reinvestment dollars into minority and lower income neighborhoods. But, despite the benefits of CRA, recent changes will decrease its effectiveness and result in fewer loans and investments in low-income and minority communities. Instead, CRA needs to …
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a law that requires banks to serve the credit needs of communities where they are chartered, including low- and moderate-income communities. The law promotes neighborhood revitalization and equity building by creating access to responsible homeownership opportunities, basic banking services and capital for small businesses. The CRA also calls on …
Since the last review of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) by the Federal Reserve Board, the home mortgage market has changed considerably. Subprime lending has become a dominant force, unregulated mortgage brokers now originate a large part of the mortgages, and exotic mortgages with exploding interest rates have become a common occurrence. …
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