ABSTRACT
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 requires banks and other lenders to provide loans and other services to all areas from which they draw deposits. Armed with this legislation, community advocates across the United States have challenged proposed bank mergers and acquisitions, claiming that the banks have failed to provide adequate service to low-income and minority families and neighborhoods. In response to these challenges, several hundred banks have negotiated community-reinvestment agreements, pledging to improve mortgage lending and other services. Additionally, an increasing number of banks, including some of the nation's largest financial institutions, have launched voluntary community-reinvestment commitments. By early 1996, these negotiated and voluntary agreements exceeded more than three hundred in number and amounted to more than $80 billion (NCRC 1996).
