NCRC enewsletter, Volume 2, issue 10

NCRC E-newsletter

Volume 2, issue 10

In this issue:

CommunityExpress Update

NCRC Recognized by Houston Asset Building Coalition

Regulatory Relief Bill, H.R. 1375 - Alert on Mark-up Before Memorial Day

NCRC Testifies in Support of Low Cost Alternative to Title Insurance

NCRC Speaks at South Central Assembly for Effective Governance

NCRC Asserts that Staten Island Bank and Trust Does Not Meet Community Credit Needs

NCRC Prominently Featured in New Book by Professor Greg Squires

NCRC and Consumer Groups Meet with FDIC on Future of Payday Lending

Financial Education in California

Financial Education in Texas

For more information on NCRC and/or to see most up to date job postings *visit us on line at www.ncrc.org <http://www.ncrc.org/> *or call 202-628-8866.


Community Express Update:
Four new banks have partnered with Technical Assistance Providers in NCRC’s CommunityExpress program. Banco Popular, Enterprise Bank, Marshall & Ilsley Bank, and Western Commerce Bank have joined the other 33 CommunityExpress lenders in increasing the total number of loans to 2,306 and the total dollar amount to $ 136,551,700. *This represents a 7.7% number increase and a 3.2% dollar value increase in just 22 days. *The NCRC CommunityExpress Team is also pleased to report that the number of loans to minorities has grown to 62.4. *For more information on CommuityExpress contact Avis Allen (aallen@ncrc.org) or Mary Hill (mhill@ncrc.org) at 202-628-8866.

NCRC Recognized by Houston Asset Building Coalition (HABC)
HABC recognized NCRC at its annual volunteer appreciation dinner. *In partnership with the city of Houston, *NCRC provided financial education training to the greater Houston’s non-profit community.

Regulatory Relief Bill, H.R. 1375 - Alert on Mark-up Before Memorial Day
The Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act, HR 1375, sponsored by Congresswoman Shelley Capito purports to repeal outdated regulations dealing with banks, thrifts and credit unions. *In actuality, the bill contains two anti-consumer provisions. *The first provision, Section 609 is an anti-CRA provision that would eliminate the possibilities of community groups appealing regulatory bank merger approvals. *The second, Section 401, involves interstate branching with regard to industrial loan companies and would facilitate preemption of state consumer protection laws. *

NCRC is encouraging its 600 member community organizations to contact their Member of Congress and Members on the House Financial Services Committee to oppose these provisions. *NCRC is working with congressional staff to draft amendments opposing both provisions of the bill. *The bill will be going to the House Financial Services Committee before the Memorial Holiday break. *For more information, please contact Crystal Ford, NCRC’s Legislative and Regulatory Director, on 202-628-8866. *

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NCRC Testifies in Support of Low Cost Alternative to Title Insurance
On April 30, NCRC’s Legislative and Regulatory Director Kelly Brinkley testified before the California Senate Insurance Committee in Sacramento in support of SB344. *The bill would approve the use of lien protection insurance, a low cost alternative to title insurance, in connection with refinancing, home equity loan or second mortgage transactions. *The bill was defeated by a 4-2 vote with three members abstaining. *A May 7 hearing was scheduled for reconsideration, but the bill was later pulled until further notice. *The bill’s sponsor, Senator Jackie Speier, stated that the bill will be the subject of interim hearings later this year. *With Californian’s refinancing home loans at a record pace, consumers could be saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year with this product. Several NCRC members sent letters of support for the bill and NCRC will continue to significantly weigh in on the issue. *For more information, call NCRC on 202-628-8866 and view Kelly Brinkley’s testimony at http://www.ncrc.org.

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NCRC Speaks at South Central Assembly for Effective Governance
The South Central Assembly for Effective Governance, a coordinating agency of local governments in south central Pennsylvania, has embarked on an ambitious project to document the extent of predatory lending and to develop strategies to combat predatory lending. *On May 6, NCRC’s Josh Silver, Vice President of Research and Policy, spoke to the South Central Assembly on high cost lending trends in an eight county area. *He pointed out the rapid increase in high cost lending and discussed disparities by race and income. *He also discussed NCRC’s programs including the Consumer Rescue Fund Initiative and financial education that can assist South Central as they combat predatory lending. *Finally, NCRC’s presentation highlighted the critical need for strong national and local anti-predatory laws. *A number of local lending institutions including Waypoint Bank are very active in the anti-predatory initiatives of the South Central Assembly. *The Assembly is now in the process of establishing a victim assistance phone line. *NCRC offered to continue serving as a resource in this initiative. *NCRC’s data analysis is on our web page at http://www.ncrc.org.

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NCRC Asserts that Staten Island Bank and Trust Does Not Meet Community Credit Needs
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and New York members of NCRC asserted in a letter to the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) that Staten Island Bank and Trust does not meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income residents of the New York metropolitan area. The letter urged the OTS to downgrade Staten Island Bank and Trust on its upcoming Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) exam. In Manhattan, for example, Staten Island Bank and Trust failed completely in serving low- and moderate-income borrowers. *From 2000 through 2001, the thrift and its mortgage company affiliate made almost 1,000 loans in Manhattan. *Only two of their loans went to low- and moderate-income borrowers. *NCRC’s Best and Worst Lenders publication had identified Staten Island Bank and Trust as a poor CRA and fair lending performer. *NCRC intends to continue using Best and Worst Lenders in an enforcement capacity for upcoming CRA exams. *For more information, contact NCRC’s Research and Policy Department on 202-628-8866.

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NCRC Prominently Featured in New Book by Professor Greg Squires
If you want to know why and how CRA activism has increased access to loans for low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, then you must get a new book edited by Professor Greg Squires and just published by Temple University. *Organizing Access to Capital: Advocacy and the Democratization of Financial Institutions contains several chapters written by NCRC and NCRC members regarding how CRA has been indispensable in the battle for economic justice. *NCRC’s John Taylor and Josh Silver co-authored a chapter entitled the Essential Role of Activism in Community Reinvestment. *This chapter maintains that CRA activism is a key part of the proud tradition of American democratic movements and describes how CRA activism has led to CRA agreements and other measures that increased lending to underserved communities. *The following NCRC members also contributed chapters: *Inner City Press/Community on the Move, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group, the Center for Community Change, and the Woodstock Institute.

NCRC and Consumer Groups Meet with FDIC on Future of Payday Lending
Josh Silver from NCRC, Jean Ann Fox from Consumer Federation of America, and *Ed Mierzwinski from US PIRG met with George French, Deputy Director, Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection, and Timothy Burniston, Associate Director, Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection, to talk about the FDIC's pending guidance to examiners on payday lending by state-chartered non-member banks. *A couple of months ago, the FDIC had drafted guidance on for their state-charted banks on which abusive and unsafe practices they must avoid if they become involved in payday lending. *In particular, NCRC and the consumer groups urged the FDIC to strengthen the section of their draft guidance dealing with the “rent a charter” phenomenon. NCRC and the consumer groups asserted that a bank partnering with a payday lender so that the payday lender evade state limits on payday laws is an abuse of the bank charter and contrary to CRA and the fair lending laws. *The FDIC was noncommittal in its response to this essential point. NCRC and our allies will continue applying the pressure on the FDIC. *For more information, contact NCRC’s Research and Policy Department on 202-628-8866.

The Financial Education in California
NCRC’s Los Angeles office and member organization, Community Financial Resource Center (CFRC), are well on the way to meeting our goal of providing financial education classes to at least 2,000 people from low –and moderate- income communities throughout California this year. Together we are working with a network of community-based organizations to empower people in these communities by providing them with the information and skills they need to make informed financial decisions. This project is part of a six-city financial education initiative funded by Citigroup. For more information, please contact our Western Regional Director, Tracy Bulkeley, at 213-743-9920 or via email at tbulkeley@ncrc.org.

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Financial Education in Texas
NCRC’s Houston office conducted a savings/goal setting workshop for teenagers at Teen Enterprise. **NCRC staff will be following up this session with a budgeting workshop in June. *For more information on NCRC’s programs in Texas and the central region of the US contact Gary Ponder at gponder@ncrc.org or 713-224-7772.

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