Congress adopted the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) (P.L. 95-128, 91 Stat. 1147) in 1977 to combat "redlining," the "systematic denial of credit to persons living within a certain area." CRA prohibited redlining by requiring regulated financial institutions to show that their depository facilities met the "convenience and needs of the communities in which they are chartered to do business."

The lack of adequate lending, coupled with the depletion of available government funds, had caused economic decay in poor neighborhoods and left the urban areas crime ridden and economically devastated. Congress hoped by codifying an affirmative obligation to meet the needs of local communities that financial lending mandated by CRA would foster neighborhood stability and...

"Community Reinvestment Act (1977)." Major Acts of Congress. Ed. Brian K. Landsberg. Macmillan-Thomson Gale, 2004. eNotes.com. 2006. 19 Feb, 2007 ($)