Community Reinvestment Act

GRCRC—The Greater Rochester Community Reinvestment Coalition (GRCRC) was launched in 1993 to generate and continue discussions about disparate lending patterns in Rochester NY. Convened by Empire Justice Center, GRCRC is a coalition of over 35 organizations that meets with banks and state and federal regulators during CRA exams and mergers and submits data-driven comments about the performance of Rochester’s largest banks in serving low-moderate income communities and Black and brown communities. GRCRC, Empire Justice Center, and its predecessor organization, the Public Interest Law Office of Rochester, have released seventeen analyses of home mortgage lending, small business lending, and access to credit since 1993. These data driven analyses help us identify strengths and weaknesses in lending patterns and to generate discussions with the area’s top banks.^[1]  In September 2018 Empire Justice Center released, “Too Big to Fail…Too Poor to Bank: How Mainstream Financial Services Can Help Low-Income Working Families Succeed,” a review of traditional bank products and services, as well as those provided by alternative financial services, like check cashers. The report found that while banks in the Rochester NY area do offer checking and transaction accounts with affordable, consumer-friendly features, they are often not well-marketed, so consumers do not know about them.

NCRC—Formed in 1990, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition works to increase the flow of private capital into traditionally underserved communities. Its 600 community- based organizations promote access to basic banking services, affordable housing, entrepreneurship, job creation and vibrant communities for America’s working families. Click here to learn more.

NYRL—New Yorkers for Responsible Lending is a coalition of more than 160 organizations from all corners of New York State that promotes economic justice as a matter of racial and community equity through legislative and policy advocacy, popular education, media advocacy, and organizing campaigns. Click here to learn more.

NYS Community Equity Agenda is a broad-based coalition of community, labor, civil rights, and legal services groups, cooperative organizations, and community development financial institutions with an affirmative, solutions-oriented platform, focusing on concrete legislative and regulatory changes in NYS that put racial and economic justice front and center and addresses long-standing inequities that play out at neighborhood and regional levels. Click here to learn more.