Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a
final rule
that makes significant changes to its proposed overhaul of the Community Reinvestment Act. NALHFA previously submitted written comments during the proposed rule stage.
While NALHFA is still reviewing the text of the final rule, initial examinations of the rule show that it will increase bank CRA-related lending, investment, and services in low- and moderate-income communities where there is significant need for credit, more responsible lending, and greater access to banking services. Some of the key provisions of the final rule that are different than the proposed rule include:
- Clarifying the importance of the quantity and quality of activities as well as their value;
- Increasing credit for mortgage origination to promote availability of affordable housing in low- and moderate-income areas;
- Clarifying credit for athletic facilities to ensure they benefit and support low- and moderate-income communities;
- Deferring establishment of thresholds for grading banks’ CRA performance and delineating banks’ deposit-based assessment areas until the OCC assesses improved data required by the final rule.
In addition, OCC agreed with NALHFA to reject the proposed single-ratio metric, which would assess how banks serve communities but would have disregarded the community development and financial needs of the community are being served by a bank or its investments.
The final rule also:
- Updates the criteria for assessment areas;
- Makes reporting more transparent and timelier;
- Increases support for small businesses, family-owned farms, and others.
NALHFA will review the rule in depth and communicate further with more details. For questions, contact Jonathan Paine at
Jpaine@nalhfa.org
.
