Journal Article

The CRA and subprime lending

Abstract: The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) has been under much scrutiny amid the subprime lending bust. Critics of the CRA contend that the law pushed banking institutions to undertake high-risk mortgage lending. A Federal Reserve Board staff analysis finds that the CRA was neither a source nor driver of the housing market's collapse. In this issue, we examine the CRA and its role in the mortgage market and distinguish it from causes of the subprime failure.

Keywords: Subprime mortgage; Subprime market; Community Reinvestment Act of 1977;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Part of Series: Banking and Community Perspectives

Publication Date: 2009

Issue: 1

Pages: 3-7