Agencies post CRA-eligible geographies for 2021

A list of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies for 2021 – the areas where revitalization or stabilization activities are eligible for anti-redlining community development designation — was released Friday by two federal banking agencies.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve, in jointly releasing the list, noted it includes areas eligible to receive Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) consideration.

The agencies said distressed nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies and underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies are designated by the agencies in accordance with the agencies’ CRA regulations. The designations, they noted, reflect local economic conditions, including unemployment, poverty, and population changes.

“As with past releases, the agencies apply a one-year lag period for geographies that were listed in 2020 but are no longer designated as distressed or underserved in the current release,” the agencies stated in a release. “Revitalization or stabilization activities in these geographies are eligible to receive CRA consideration under the community development definition for 12 months after publication of the current list.”

The list is located on the website of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) website.

FFIEC distressed and underserved tracts