PRINTER'S NO. 3915
No. 789 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY WAGNER, BENNINGTON, BEYER, BIANCUCCI, CALTAGIRONE,
DALEY, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE, KULA, MUSTIO, PETRONE,
READSHAW, SIPTROTH, M. SMITH, THOMAS, VULAKOVICH, WOJNAROSKI
AND YOUNGBLOOD, JUNE 11, 2008
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
JUNE 11, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to urge the
2 Comptroller of the Currency for the United States Treasury to
3 add the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area as a new
4 Community Reinvestment Act assessment area for Bank of
5 America.
6 WHEREAS, Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
7 in 1977, which states that "regulated financial institutions
8 have continuing and affirmative obligations to help meet the
9 credit needs of the local communities in which they are
10 chartered"; and
11 WHEREAS, The original act established a regulatory mechanism
12 for monitoring the level of lending, investments and services in
13 low-income and moderate-income neighborhoods, traditionally
14 underserved by lending institutions; and
15 WHEREAS, In the spring of 1995, the Federal regulatory
16 agencies released new CRA regulations that outlined how Federal
17 agencies are to assess the activities of lending institutions in
18 traditionally underserved neighborhoods; and
1 WHEREAS, The regulations, which became effective in January
2 1996, established three different tests for lending
3 institutions, involving the lending, investment and service
4 records of banks and provided a strategic plan option in lieu of
5 a regulator evaluation; and
6 WHEREAS, Examiners rate lending institutions as either
7 "outstanding," "satisfactory," "needs to improve" or
8 "substantial noncompliance"; and
9 WHEREAS, Scores falling within the categories of "needs to
10 improve" or "substantial noncompliance" can result in delays or
11 denials of mergers, acquisitions or expansion of services; and
12 WHEREAS, Countrywide Home Loans currently issues the most
13 single-family home loans in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan
14 Statistical area at 4,763 loans and maintains 8.98% of the
15 market share; and
16 WHEREAS, Bank of America is ranked tenth in the number of
17 single-family home loans issued in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan
18 Statistical Area at 888 loans, or 1.67% of the market share; and
19 WHEREAS, The total market share of home loans in the
20 Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area is likely to be 11.38%
21 after the merger of Countrywide Home Loans and Bank of America;
22 and
23 WHEREAS, The most recent examination under the Community
24 Reinvestment Act did not include the Commonwealth of
25 Pennsylvania or the Pittsburgh region as an official assessment
26 area for Bank of America; and
27 WHEREAS, An analysis of fair lending practices conducted by
28 the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) reflected
29 that Countrywide Home Loans provided African Americans with only
30 2.3% of total prime loans issued, although they represented 7.4%
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1 of all households in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical
2 Area and lagged behind all lenders as a group; and
3 WHEREAS, The analysis further reflected that Countrywide Home
4 Loans lagged behind all lenders in the Pittsburgh region in the
5 proportion of both prime and subprime loans to residents of low-
6 income and moderate-income tracts, and borrowers in minority
7 tracts received a disproportionately small share of prime loans
8 at 0.99%; and
9 WHEREAS, Bank of America also provided African Americans with
10 a disproportionately small share of prime loans issued, 1.65%,
11 as compared to representing 7.4% of Pittsburgh's population; and
12 WHEREAS, The NCRC's analysis further reflected that while
13 low-income and moderate-income borrowers comprised 40.4% of the
14 households in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area in
15 2006, they received a disproportionately small number of the
16 bank's prime loans, 30.6%, and a larger share of subprime loans,
17 72.2%; and
18 WHEREAS, A merger of these institutions would make Bank of
19 America the largest lender in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan
20 Statistical Area; and
21 WHEREAS, Without oversight under the Community Reinvestment
22 Act, the credit needs of the local community could be
23 disproportionately affected and impact the level of lending,
24 investments and services in Pittsburgh's underserved
25 populations; therefore be it
26 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
27 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of the
28 United States to urge the Comptroller of the Currency for the
29 United States Treasury to add the Pittsburgh Metropolitan
30 Statistical Area as a new Community Reinvestment Act assessment
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1 area for Bank of America; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
3 the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group in appreciation and
4 recognition of its efforts in providing economic justice,
5 equitable investment practices and sufficient financial
6 resources to revitalize communities throughout Allegheny County;
7 and be it further
8 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
9 the Comptroller of the Currency for the United States Treasury
10 and the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
11 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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