law

Community Reinvestment Act

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a 1977 federal law that encourages federally insured banks and savings institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities where they do business, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Regulators periodically evaluate and rate each institution's community lending record, and those ratings are considered when the institution applies to merge, expand, or open branches. The CRA was enacted largely to counter redlining.