The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requires lenders quot;to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered, consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institutions.quot; For proponents of efficient markets, the CRA is a threat to lender profitability....

Since 1975, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) has required most mortgage lending institutions to disclose to the public information about the home loans they originate or purchase during a calendar year. In using these data, however, researchers need to be aware of a number of issues and...

This study tests for the presence of prejudicial or quot;noneconomicquot; discrimination on the part of mortgage lenders by evaluating the performance of home mortgage loans. The approach differs from that of previous studies of loan performance in that it is based on the proposition that...