FAQ

Can CRA-NC provide me with a mortgage?
CRA-NC is a policy and advocacy organization. We are
not legally chartered to make mortgage loans.

What is the Community Reinvestment Act?
The Community Reinvestment Act is intended to
encourage depository institutions to help meet the
credit needs of the communities in which they operate,
including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods,
consistent with safe and sound banking operations. It
was enacted by the Congress in 1977 (12 U.S.C.
2901) and is implemented by Regulations 12 CFR
parts 25, 228, 345, and 563e.

The CRA requires that each insured depository
institution's record in helping meet the credit needs of
its entire community be evaluated periodically. That
record is taken into account in considering an
institution's application for deposit facilities, including

What is a Lending Agreement?
Lending agreement emerged from the Community
Reinvestment Act, a law that was championed by Sen.
William Proxmire (D-WI) and passed in 1974. The CRA
sought to prevent redlining by forcing banks to make
capital available in all neighborhoods. It created a
system of examinations, where regulators measured
the performance of financial institutions in meeting the
credit needs of citizens.

At the time, the law gave weight to agreements made
by banks with local community groups. Such
agreements often created quantifiable performance
goals for lending to low-income and minority
borrowers, and
to borrowers in distressed neighborhoods.

Although recent Federal regulations have weakened
CRA law and removed the weight given to agreements
with community groups, the framework of lending
agreements remains in place.

What is CRA-NC and what does it stand for?
CRA-NC is an acronym for our formal name, The
Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina.
CRA-NC is an advocacy and policy group
working to help low income and minority communities
gain access to capital and to build wealth. We are a
non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization in Durham, North
Carolina.

Is CRA-NC a state organization?
CRA-NC works on issues at the state level. We have
proposed several bills in the North Carolina General
Assembly relating to manufactured housing and we
partner with many groups on other issues. However,
many financial issues concern corporations with
operations across the country. Our discussions with
banks generally extend across the entirety of their
footprint. As well, some lending issues are governed by
federal regulators and we must address those concerns
to national audiences.

Does CRA-NC build housing?
As a policy and advocacy organization, development has
not been CRA-NC primary mission.

Nonetheless, we have done some housing development.

CRA-NC has helped to revitalize a mobile home park in
Burnsville, North Carolina.

In 2004, CRA-NC purchased an abandoned office building
in Old North Durham and rehabilitated it. We use that
building for our office now, and rent out two offices.

CRA-NC is seeking to do more development in the future
and has developed a small loan fund for projects. We are
working on the development of an office building
adjacent to our office on land we already own.

What is HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act)?
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) was enacted
by Congress in 1975 and is implemented by the Federal
Reserve Board's Regulation C. This regulation provides
the public loan data that can be used to assist: " in
determining whether financial institutions are serving the
housing needs of their communities; "public officials in
distributing public-sector investments so as to attract
private investment to areas where it is needed; " and in
identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns. This
regulation applies to certain financial institutions,
including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and
other mortgage lending institutions.