Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation

From: Marie Kittredge [mailto:MarieK@slavicvillage.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 2:19 PM
To: Comments
Subject: Community Reinvestment -- RIN 3064-AC50

On behalf of Slavic Village Development, a non-profit housing development corporation in Cleveland Ohio, I am writing in opposition to the abovementioned rule change.

CRA has been a critical tool in providing private capital to our community development work. CRA has been a terrific example of public policy spuring private development. It has provided motivation for banks to lend in our urban market, and banks have found out they can indeed make money on loans in urban areas. In Cleveland, our banks have been some of our strongest partners, we have found little need for loans from non-profit sources, as the banks do usch a good job of lending for community development work.

Keeping the current scope of CRA is critical to maintaining the strength of the Act, and assuring that smaller markets will have lenders with CRA responsibilities. If CRA is watered down and limited, the Act will lose its ability to provide so much private capital to community development at little or no cost to the government and tax payer.

Marie Kittredge
Slavic Village Development
5620 Broadway Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44127