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** Just News
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for February 25, 2022

News and views from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Find more at ncrc.org.

For continuous updates, follow us on Twitter ([link removed]) , FB ([link removed]) , LinkedIn ([link removed]) and I ([link removed]) G ([link removed]) .


** Announcements
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Sign Our Petition Asking the FDIC to Close the Rent-A-Bank Loophole
Banks help other lenders get around state laws to facilitate abusive puppy mills and trap pet owners in predatory loans. Join us in demanding that the FDIC close this loophole. [Sign petition ([link removed]) ]

2022 Just Economy Conference
The Just Economy Conference is back, live in DC June 13-15. Don't miss it. [Register here ([link removed]) ]


** News
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NCRC and Cadence Bank Announce $20.7 Billion Community Benefits Plan
The five-year plan includes provision for mortgage lending, small business lending, community development lending and investments, philanthropy and service hours in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

A New Way to Track the Enduring Impact of Historic Redlining
A new study from NCRC provides a more detailed view of the continuing impacts of 20th Century redlining on 21st Century lives, and it offers a new technique for researchers and policy makers to assess other socioeconomic outcomes and trends in formerly redlined neighborhoods.[Read more ([link removed]) ]


** Views
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The Need For Black Electoral And Economic Power
By Dedrick Asante-Muhammad and Connor Sanchez
Political and economic reforms are necessary to jump-start progress on racial equality that has been stalling for the last 50 years. Taking down barriers to voting is an important part of these reforms. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

NCRC Fact Sheet: Three Bills Would Significantly Weaken Section 1071 Small Business Loan Disclosures
By Josh Silver
The philosophy behind Section 1071 is similar to that of HMDA: the public release of data will identify which lenders are making good faith efforts to serve small businesses and which lenders lag their peers, encouraging the laggards through public accountability to increase their lending to traditionally underserved businesses. HMDA has had a significant impact on increasing home lending to people of color and modest-income borrowers. We expect a similar benefit from Section 1071. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

Explainer: Why We Created a New Method for Measuring the Impact of Redlining
By Bruce Mitchell, Ph.D.
To help researchers, policy makers and advocates assess the present impacts of past redlining, Dr. Helen Meier of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and I developed a historic redlining score. The new historic redlining score was created using census tract boundaries for both the 2010 census and also for the 2020 census. [Read more ([link removed]) ]


** Research
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Tracing the Legacy of Redlining: A New Method for Tracking the Origins of Housing Segregation
By Helen C.S. Meier and Bruce C. Mitchell
A spatial mismatch between historic neighborhood boundaries and current census tracts—the level at which many sources of data (i.e., demographic, health, etc.) is available—is a barrier to using HOLC maps in demographic research. This new report updates our findings from the 2018 report and introduces an updated historic redlining score method which can be used with the Census 2020 tract boundary files. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

The Great Consolidation of Banks and Acceleration of Branch Closures Across the Country: Branch Closure Rate Doubled During the Pandemic
By Jad Edlebi, Bruce C. Mitchell, Jason Richardson
At the publication of last year’s update, NCRC anticipated a continuation of the branch closure trend. What we did not expect was that there would be an acceleration of closures exacerbated by the pandemic. Larger financial institutions drove that acceleration in 2021, as the biggest banks closed branches more rapidly than before the start of the pandemic. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

Racial Wealth Snapshot: Native Americans
By Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Esha Kamra, Connor Sanchez, Kathy Ramirez and Rogelio Tec
This report pulls together the best and most current information we could find. However, it is still incomplete. Native Americans continue to be disenfranchised through a racial wealth divide like Latinos and African Americans. Yet despite this ongoing inequality, it is also true that Native Americans have made socioeconomic progress. Native Americans have seen decreased poverty and unemployment rates, and increased income and educational attainment over the last 25 years. [Read more ([link removed]) ]


** Events
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Bank Branch Closures During the Pandemic
March 3, 2:00 pm ET - 3:00 pm ET
NCRC’s new report shows that more than 4,000 physical bank branch locations have closed since March 2020. In the 20 months after COVID-19 hit, banks closed about twice as many branches as they had in the 20 months prior. Join us on Thursday to hear from NCRC’s research team, and dig into how this is affecting our communities and what can be done to stop it.
[Register here ([link removed]) ]

Horasis USA Meeting 2022
March 4, 3:30 pm ET - 4:15 pm ET
Join NCRC’s Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Andrew Nachison at Horasis USA Meeting 2022 for a panel discussion: Governments are Supposed to Discuss, Not Totally Oppose.
[Register here ([link removed]) ]

International Women’s Day Celebration at ShopHER!
March 8, 6:00 pm ET - 8:00 pm ET
Come celebrate women entrepreneurs from around the world and featured at ShopHER, DC region’s small business retail incubator for women-owned small businesses.
[Register here ([link removed]) ]


** Resources
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A DC Hub for Nonprofits, Events and Work
For nonprofits and social sector ventures in DC: Do your work and meetings at the new Just Economy Club in DC. It’s hosted by NCRC in the historic Union Trust building at 15th and H Streets, just around the corner from The White House. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

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 ([link removed]) more ([link removed]) ]

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 ([link removed]) ]

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

Sign and Share the Just Economy Pledge
America should not only promise but deliver to all Americans opportunities to build wealth and live well. Sign the pledge and share it to help us expand the movement for a Just Economy. [Sign and Share ([link removed]) ]

Member Hub
NCRC members: Don't forget you have access to our member hub ([link removed]) ! Learn more about membership here ([link removed]) . You can join as an organization or an individual ([link removed]) .

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] ([link removed])

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] ([link removed])


** In the News
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Editorial: Who Can Afford to Raise a Family in Boston?
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff
According to a 2020 report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Boston’s the third most “intensely gentrified city” in the nation. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

M&T, People’s United Postpone Merger Deadline Till June
By Polo Rocha and Allissa Kline, American Banker
M&T has pledged to provide $43 billion of loans and other financial support in the communities it will operate in as part of a five-year reinvestment plan negotiated with NCRC. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

Climate Risk Stumps Bank Regulators Updating Anti-Redlining Plan
By Evan Weinberger, Bloomberg Law
There are ways to mitigate against potential tensions between climate risk and the CRA. The simplest would be for banks to get CRA credit for focusing on “precovery” efforts before a disaster hits, said Jesse Van Tol, the president and CEO of NCRC. [Read more ([link removed]) ]


** On Our Radar
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SBA Offers Increased Assistance to Black Female Business Owners
By Rohit Arora, Forbes
Last week, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced the availability of $1.5 million for 10 new grant opportunities for established Minority Serving Institutions aspiring to host a Women’s Business Center (WBC) to provide local outcome-oriented business services for women entrepreneurs. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

Wells Fargo Sued for Discrimination Against Black Borrowers
By Andrew Martinez, American Banker
Christopher Williams filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Wells Fargo, which is headquartered in San Francisco. The complaint seeks unspecified damages for four counts of race discrimination and violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. [Read more ([link removed]) ]

First-Time Homebuyers Are Getting Squeezed Out by Investors
By Chris Arnold and Anthony Tellez, NPR
"Investors are coming in and pushing out the first-time buyers," says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. He says the percentage of home sales that went to investors rose to 22% in January, up from 15% a year earlier. [Read more ([link removed]) ]


Support our work

Join the Just Economy Club, the network for individuals who support NCRC’s research, publishing, investigations, training, advocacy and programs.
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