Insights Into the Practice of Community Reinvestment Act Lending: A Synthesis of CRA Discussion Groups

This report summarizes the information and opinions gleaned from these discussion groups. It is part of a larger study of the effectiveness of the CRA undertaken by the Joint Center for Housing Studies. This synthesis is not intended to be a comprehensive report on the history of community lending, but instead reflect the ideas shared by industry experts participating in the discussions. The report is organized into five sections. The introductory section provides basic information pertaining to the discussion groups and the CRA. The second section traces the events, most of which occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which promoted an increase in community reinvestment lending. Section three reflects the views of the members of the discussion group on the transition from the mortgage lending approach of community reinvestment to the broader concept of community development. The fourth section explores the factors--such as size and location of lending institutions--which the discussion group participants felt exercised an influence on community lending practices…