From: Angela Ceaser [mailto:angelaceaser@integritymortgagesolutions.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 9:41 PM
To: Comments
Subject: Community Reinvestment -- RIN 3064-AC50
I believe it
is very important to hold the banking industry accountable for
serving minority and
low-income communities and serving them "fairly".
One issue that really disturbs me is the presence of sub-prime financial
institutions in low/moderate income communities. These sub-prime
financial arms (eg. Citifiinancial and Wells Fargo Financial) do
not even offer prime products. That means that any consumer that
receives financial services from these particular affiliates will
receive a subprime product, regardless of the consumer's income or
credit situation.
As banking institutions have less production in these communities,
predators and high-priced lenders find a larger niche to fill in
these communities. Poorer individuals and families need to have access
to fair credit practices. The CRA Act as it stands is only one small
step in ensuring that these communities are appropriately served.
Any relaxation on the current CRA legislation would be totally ridiculous.
If you really want to do some societal good, make financial institutions
MORE accountable....not less! By the way, I happen to be a woman
of color and a Mortgage Broker. I know first hand what goes on out
there and the federal government has failed miserably in protecting
consumers.
