From: Rich Lee [mailto:rich@dahc.org]
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 3:16 PM
To: Comments
Subject: RIN 3064-AC50, Community Reinvestment
September 18, 2004
Dear Mr. Feldman:
As Executive Director of the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition
(DAHC), I am writing to express my strong opposition to your proposal
to significantly weaken the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Given
the growing shortage of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income
households across the country and rising profits in the banking industry,
the FDIC should be strengthening rather than weakening CRA requirements
for banks.
You propose to
relax CRA requirements for banks with assets between $ 250 million
to $1
billion. This will result in fewer home and small
business loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers as well as much
fewer community development loans and investments in low- and moderate-income
communities. In addition, your proposal that all FDIC-supervised
banks can earn CRA points by financing community development projects
that benefit affluent residents in rural areas, instead of low- and
moderate-income consumers and communities in rural America, is directly
contrary to CRA’s focus on meeting the credit needs of low-
and moderate-income communities. As a result, your proposed changes
to CRA regulations will result in significantly fewer loans, investments,
and branches in low- and moderate-income communities. Please withdraw
your harmful proposal.
Sincerely yours,
Richard Y. Lee
Durham Affordable Housing Coalition
331 W. Main Street
Durham, North Carolina
