Community Reinvestment Act Enforcement and Changes in Targeted Lending

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) encourages banks and savings and loan associations to meet the credit needs of local communities. Controversies surrounding implementation of the CRA, however, have challenged its effectiveness as a tool for increasing loan activity. To determine whether the CRA influences lending, the authors compare the low-income mortgage loans of banks that experience CRA downgrades to those of other banks that are not downgraded. The authors find no evidence consistent with the hypothesis that downgraded banks, in an attempt to reestablish an acceptable rating, increase lending.