In the News

A 2018 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) found that “while overt redlining is illegal today, having been prohibited under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, its enduring effect is still evident in the structure of U.S. cities.” Access to credit is “an underpinning of economic inclusion and wealth-building in the U.S.,” the report said.

Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the advocacy group National Community Reinvestment Coalition, has liaised with the Fed on CRA-related issues over the course of his 14 years with the organization. He notes that there has been a change in tone under the leadership of former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, and now Powell. “They are more focused than they ever have before on racial income inequality,” Van Tol told Yahoo Finance.

Local grantees include the National Community Reinvestment Coalition Community Development Fund, which received $5.5 million to offer affordable loans and other support to entrepreneurs locally and nationally, many of whom will be people of color.

According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Asian Americans, on average, beat out the national average on certain metrics:
Asian Americans have the lowest unemployment rate across any household of color with a 3.3% unemployment rate vs the national average of 4.1% in Q1 2020.
53% of Asian Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 33.4% national average in 2017.
In 2017, the household median income of Asian Americans is $87,194, compared to the national median income of $63,179.
Comparatively, here are some stats for Black Americans, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition made those points in its letter to lawmakers, co-signed by the AFL-CIO, SEIU and others. It also said the coronavirus pandemic exposed continuing redlining, and that the Trump comptroller’s rule would have only made a bad situation worse. Senators agreed.

“For decades, redlining and government bank sanctions–you know how they started,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who would take over the chair of the Senate panel dealing with banking and housing issues if Democrats win Senate control.

“It was the Black codes after Reconstruction. Then it was Jim Crow. Then it was redlining. Now it is locking in discrimination by Trump nominees who have had another Trump appointee working to make it harder to invest.”

“For decades, redlining and government- and bank-sanctioned discrimination left parts of this country–often Black and Brown communities [and] often rural areas…with virtually no investment from banks. All kinds of people had dreams to start businesses, to build houses, to grow and support their communities, but they couldn’t get the loans to do it.”

it’s clear that more than FHA is needed to increase minority homeownership. So it’s not surprising that the new legislation is supported by a broad spectrum of the housing industry, from the Mortgage Bankers Association to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

A 2018 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that “while overt redlining is illegal today, having been prohibited under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, its enduring effect is still evident in the structure of U.S. cities.”

Researchers affiliated with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition sent “mystery shoppers” to banks in the Washington, D.C., area in April and May. They found that white applicants — white men in particular — were significantly more likely to be encouraged to apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans than Black applicants with slightly better financial profiles.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition revealed in its latest study that although the nation’s capital is ranked 13th on the list of “most intensely gentrified” cities from 2013 to 2017 (a drop from ranking first from 2000 to 2012), gentrification remains intense, as community organizations argue the rapid development D.C. has endured continues to push low-income residents out of their communities.

Banks are twice as likely to provide business loans to white applicants than Black ones, and three times as likely to have follow-up meetings with white applicants than more qualified Black applicants (A 2017 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition). Lenders deny mortgages for Black applicants at a rate 80% higher than that of white applicants, according to an analysis of the most recent data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

“The beginning and end of this for me is that the impacts of poverty in my community and across the country are so devastating to our communities and to our residents that we have to find some way to lift people up and provide them with the income that they need,” said Satya Rhodes-Conway, mayor of Madison, Wis., at a virtual event held by MGI and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Madison is currently exploring starting its first guaranteed income pilot program.

In a draft comment not yet submitted but provided to CQ Roll Call, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a pro-consumer group, said it finds the question about online bank deposits “puzzling” because Justice doesn’t currently consider these deposits. It recommends that the department improve its data on those deposits, such as requiring them to be “geocoded,” before including them in DOJ analyses.

But Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said that he has heard from borrowers that lenders are beginning to request that their customers start repaying loans.

“I’ve seen … lenders starting to batten down the hatches and start to push for repayment as possible, maybe less flexibility or less of an open mind about flexibility,” Van Tol said. “I don’t know if that is being driven by a concern over credit losses. I think people know how bad this can get and creditors want to avoid being the ones caught on the short end of the stick.”

Lending practices have long favorited white business owners. In a study about discriminatory banking practices, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that black and Hispanic men who applied for loans faced more scrutiny than their white counterparts, despite having stronger applications. This is backed up by statistics from the US Federal Reserve. Their data shows that banks are twice as likely to reject loan applications from black business owners. Black borrowers also have more difficulty obtaining personal and homeowner loans.