The list of “distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies” where some bank activities are eligible for credits under anti-redlining regulations was released late Wednesday by the federal banking agencies.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) released the list for credits to be earned under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
The CRA requires the banking agencies to assess a bank’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations, the agencies said. The list includes designated distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies where revitalization or stabilization activities are eligible to receive CRA consideration, they added.
The designations reflect local economic conditions, including unemployment, poverty, and population changes, according to the agencies.
“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,” according to the agencies. “As with past lists, the agencies apply a one-year lag period for geographies that were included in 2024 but are no longer designated as distressed or underserved in the current list.”
The agencies also said they “leveraged” an updated methodology to designate underserved middle-income census tracts for the list. That was based upon revised source information from various agencies, they said.
“As a result, the amended urban influence codes use similar criteria and methods as previous delineations but have been consolidated from 12 to 9 categories,” they said, noting that additional information is available in the source information and methodology documents for the list, also released Thursday.
Agencies Release List of Distressed or Underserved Nonmetropolitan Middle-Income Geographies
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