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Just News

for October 21, 2021

News and views from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Find more at ncrc.org. For continuous updates, follow us on TwitterFacebook and Instagram.

News


SLEHCRA, The Woodstock Institute And NCRC Oppose First Mid And Jefferson Banks’ Merger Application
The St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance (SLEHCRA), Woodstock Institute and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) have submitted comment letters opposing the proposed merger between First Mid Bank & Trust and Jefferson Bank & Trust to the Federal Reserve. The letters cited similar Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and fair lending concerns with First Mid Bank & Trust’s ongoing operations in multiple markets across Illinois. [Read more]

Views
 

Latino Housing Trends During COVID-19
By Jamie Buell & Joshua Devine
As the population of young Latinos, aged 18 to 35, continues to grow, protecting and expanding their economic progress during a national pandemic-induced crisis will be critical to their wealth-building trajectory. Lower-income Latinos are still falling behind on rent and mortgage payments, and younger Latinos rear losing their homes. [Read more]

To Preserve Pre-COVID Economic Growth for Latino Americans, Eliminating Racial Economic Inequality Must Be a Priority of Post-COVID Recovery
By  Jamie Buell, Joshua Devine and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad
In honor of Latino Heritage Month, this is one in a series of NCRC snapshots and infographics exploring racial economic and wealth disparities and the economic conditions of various Latino nationalities. [Read more]

Policy
 

NCRC Submits Comment on Interagency Proposal for the Regulation of Partnerships Between Banks and Fintechs
NCRC urges the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve (collectively, “the Agencies”) to apply a high degree of scrutiny to third-party relationships. [Read more]

Joint Comment on Application of First Mid Bancshares to Acquire Delta Bancshares Company and Jefferson Bank and Trust
The St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance and NCRC have serious concerns with First Mid Bancshares and First Mid Bank and Trust’s performance under the Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending laws.  [Read more]

Research
 

Making CRA Relevant For A Changing Financial Services Industry
By Bruce Mitchell and Josh Silver
Because nonbanks have significantly increased their market share in key products, the ability of CRA to ensure access to credit and capital in LMI communities will decline if CRA is not expanded to nonbanks. [Read more]

Racial Wealth Snapshot: Latino Americans
By Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Alexandra Perez and Jamie Buell 
Latinos are the largest community of color and fastest-growing native born demographic in the United States. [Read more]

Events
 

Quarterly Meeting on Fair Housing
October 27, 11:00 am ET – 12:00 pm ET

NCRC is launching a quarterly fair housing online meeting with NCRC  members as a new benefit of membership. [More info]

Fair Lending Tool Webinar
October 28, 2:00 Pm ET – 3:00 Pm ET

Join us to learn how to use NCRC’s interactive Fair Lending Tool to produce a report on mortgages, small business lending and bank branch networks for any city, county or metro area in the nation. [Register here]

Resources


New Learning & Training Hub
Our new learning management system is live! It is designed with you in mind, offering a more robust experience for every kind of learner. [Learn more]

A DC Hub for Nonprofits, Events and Work
The new Just Economy Club in DC, housed on the 3rd floor of NCRC’s headquarters at 740 15th St. NW,  is designed for social sector nonprofits and events. It’s in the historic Union Trust building at 15th and H Streets, just around the corner from The White House. [Read more]

Browse Our Collection of Research and Reports
We have an extensive library of research and reports that dates back many years; now available in one convenient location! [View all]

Browse Our Collection of Racial Wealth Snapshots
Over the past two years, NCRC has put together a catalog of Racial Wealth Snapshots. [View all]

Sign and Share the Just Economy Pledge
Our economic and social fractures were devastating before COVID, and the pandemic was a painful reminder that inequality isn’t simply about how much stuff you have. It’s about life and death. [Read more]

Forum & Hub
NCRC members: Don't forget you have access to our forum and member hubLearn more about membership here. You can join as an organization or an individual.

2021 Fair Lending Tool
Use our interactive tool to produce a report on mortgages, small business lending and bank branch networks for any city, county or metro area in the nation. [Access the tool here]

NCRC COVID-19 Resource Page
We've compiled and are updating an index of COVID-19 resources for communities, small businesses, individuals and organizations that serve them, such as housing counseling agencies. [Read more]

TreasureCRA Page
CRA will be essential for COVID-19 economic recovery in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic. Use the tools on this page to reach your friends and local leaders. [Read more]

In the News


Counterpoint: Remove the Community Reinvestment Act's Racial Blindfolds
By Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, ArcaMax
The CRA was designed to reduce the lending discrimination that has left many Black and brown neighborhoods impoverished. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a reduction in racial economic inequality — but if we can get the law to explicitly consider race, we can change that. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition recently partnered with Relman Colfax on a new paper to outline some ways to do that. [Read more]

First Midwest Buyer Accused of Home-Lending Discrimination as Fed Mulls Approval
By Steve Daniels, Crain's Chicago Business
A lawsuit filed against Old National Bank earlier this month by an Indiana fair-housing group casts a spotlight on the bank’s lending practices at a time when the issue of credit availability to minorities has drawn far greater attention from policymakers in Chicago and elsewhere. Well over a dozen groups now are preparing to sign a new letter in opposition based on the lawsuit’s assertions, says Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in Washington, D.C. [Read More]

Black Businesses Are Fighting for Their Lives. We Can’t Afford to Lose Them
By Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post
In two separate tests, the nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition found that Black people seeking small-business loans under coronavirus relief programs were treated less favorably than Whites — even when they had stronger financial profiles. [Read More]

On Our Radar


The Pandemic Intensified Hunger in the DC Region. Now, There’s a Push to End it for Good.
By Rebecca Tan, The Washington Post
In the D.C. region, one of the most affluent — and unequal — areas in the country, as many as 250,000 residents were thrown into food insecurity last year, a local food bank estimated, joining some 400,000 who had been struggling to get meals even before the pandemic. [Read more]

White House Details Plan to Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Ages 5 to 11
By Jeremy Diamond, Kaitlan Collins and Kate Sullivan, CNN
The Biden administration has secured enough vaccine supply to vaccinate the 28 million children ages 5 to 11 who would become eligible for vaccination if the vaccine is authorized for that age group and will help equip more than 25,000 pediatric and primary care offices, hundreds of community health centers and rural health clinics as well as tens of thousands of pharmacies to administer the shots, according to the White House. [Read more]

Where Are COVID Rescue Funds Going? The Place with Pervasive, 'Urgent' Need: Housing
By Joey Garrison, Yahoo News
The US has a shortage of 6.8 million rental homes considered affordable for households that earn 30% or less of their area's median income, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Using money from the $350 billion that is coming to them in federal aid, many municipalities are trying to solve this affordable housing crisis. [Read more]
     
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