The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has been under much scrutiny amid the subprime lending bust. Critics of the CRA contend that the law pushed banking institutions to undertake high-risk mortgage lending. A Federal Reserve Board staff analysis finds that the CRA was neither a source nor driver...

When CRA officers gather with their examiners, the top question they ask is whether their activity qualifies for CRA purposes. This Community Development Decision Flow Chart can help answer that question.

In August 2005, a joint ruling by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency made several changes to the rules implementing the Community Reinvestment Act.

The Community Affairs Office of the Dallas Fed has revised A Banker's Quick Reference Guide to CRA. The publication is a tool for quickly accessing information about CRA regulation and examination procedures.

Four federal agencies conduct CRA examinations and enforce CRA regulations. They are the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of Thrift Supervision.

This article highlights popular Community Reinvestment Act websites of interest to bankers, community groups and others engaged in the CRA.

Although the level of seriously delinquent mortgages in Texas is slightly improved from one year ago (see the accompanying article), such mortgages are still at very high levels in the metro areas. For example, over 30,000 households are at least 90 days delinquent on their mortgage in the...

Many regulatory changes go into effect in 2009 and 2010 as the government works to increase the knowledge of consumers who are shopping for credit.

We asked Diane van Gelder, director of examinations in the Dallas Fed's Consumer Affairs Division, for advice on the steps bank compliance officers should take to prepare for these regulatory changes.

Anecdotal evidence of abusive practices in the home equity lending market led to the enactment of the Home Ownership Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). The act was amended in late 2001, and compliance under the new rules becomes mandatory on Oct. 1, 2002. The rate-based trigger was lowered by 2...