FDIC Federal Register Citations

Genesis Community Loan Fund

From: George Shaw [mailto:gshaw@midcoast.com]
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 8:48 AM
To: Comments
Subject: Withdraw Proposal to Weaken CRA

George Shaw
P.O. Box 875
Damariscotta , ME 04543

October 18, 2004

Robert E. Feldman

FDIC, ATTN: Comments/Legal ESS
550 E. 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429

Dear Robert Feldman:

Mr. Robert E. Feldman
Executive Secretary
ATTN: Comments/Legal ESS
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 E. 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429

RE: RIN 3064-AC50

Dear Mr. Feldman:

As a treasurer and board member of the Genesis Community Loan Fund, a
community loan fund serving all of the State of Maine, I am aware of the
importance of the Community Reinvestment Act in stimulating banks to
invest in community development projects. The proposed changes to the CRA
regulations, if adopted, will result in significantly fewer loans and
investments in low-income communities, the very communities that the CRA
was enacted to serve. Many of the communities that Genesis serves in
rural Maine falls into this category as well. CRA investments by banks in
Maine is of critical importance for Genesis to able to maintain sufficient
investable funds to support its community investment programs.

The impetus for the creation of the CRA was to encourage federally insured
financial institutions to meet the credit and banking needs of the
communities they serve, especially low- and moderate-income communities.
This proposal undermines the intent of CRA, and threatens to undo the
years of effort to bring unbanked consumers into the financial mainstream.
I urge you to remove this proposal from consideration.

Sincerely,

George T. Shaw