I am a concerned business owner strongly opposed to your proposal to
significantly weaken the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). You propose
much easier CRA requirements for banks between $250 million to $1
billion in assets. This proposal will result in much fewer home and
small business leans to low and moderate income borrowers and much few
community development loans and investments in low and moderate income
communities. In addition, you propose 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. This is directly contrary to
CRA’s focus on meeting credit needs of low and moderate income
communities.
In summary, your proposal to change the CRA regulation will result in
much fewer loans, investments, and branches in low and moderate income
communities. Please withdraw your proposal to disenfranchise low income
communities; if the banks could have been trusted we would have had no
need for CRA. We need your help and consumers, tax payers, and citizens
or this country. I trust that we can depend on you to consider our
position.
