NEW YORK–NCUA Chairman Todd Harper stressed his commitment to advancing economic equity and justice during remarks to Inclusiv’s virtual annual conference.
“One way we are achieving that goal is through our support of minority depository institutions, or MDIs, which play an essential role in providing safe and affordable financial services to underserved communities, many of which were especially hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Harper told the meeting. “This is vital work, and I am fully committed to supporting MDIs, by providing them with needed resources like training, grants, loans, technical assistance, and mentoring opportunities.”
Harper said the agency has increased staff devoted to supporting MDIs, and it is using its Community Development Revolving Loan Fund to continue to fund MDI mentoring partnerships.
“These mentoring grants help bring MDI credit unions facing challenges together with more experienced credit unions that can provide guidance and technical assistance,” he said.
Harper noted that as part of this year’s Revolving Loan Fund grant round, the NCUA allocated more than $1 million to low-income designated credit unions for underserved outreach.
“Through our underserved outreach grants, we are supporting efforts by credit unions to help close the wealth gap in their communities,” Harper stated.
A ‘Big Difference’
The chairman told attendees that while the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund grants may often be small in size, but they can “make a big difference” for small, low-income, and minority credit unions that are working to provide more and better services to their members and communities.
“That is why I encourage all eligible credit unions to consider applying for these grants in the future,” he said.
He also urged participation of MDI credit unions in the NCUA’s upcoming MDI Preservation Roundtables. The online forums will take place in the Southern Region on Sept. 28 and in the Western Region on Sept. 30, he reminded.
Appraisal Bias
Harper repeated a theme he has touched on in recent remarks, telling the audience that many people are unable to build wealth because they can’t purchase a home due to “appraisal bias” in the home buying process.
“The result of this systemic and institutionalized discrimination is the creation of one of the widest wealth gaps between the races in the history of our country,” Harper said. “One way to close that gap is to examine the issue of appraisal bias. More than a decade ago in the Dodd- Frank Act, Congress enacted reforms aimed at addressing problems in the appraisal industry, and many consumer organizations and civil rights advocates supported those reforms. Among other things, Congress strengthened the powers of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s Appraisal Subcommittee, which supervises state regulatory programs. Those reforms also sought to address appraisal independence, fairness and accuracy.
“Today, however, we continue to see stresses in the appraisal system, including bias based on race, and I am deeply concerned,” Harper continued.
Harper said NCUA is studying the causes of disparities in appraisal and valuation services to inform its future policymaking.