The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), adopted in 1977, requires federally-insured depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of their entire communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Assessments of CRA’s scope and effectiveness are typically conducted at a market-specific level, and those markets analyzed are almost exclusively metropolitan or urban in nature. Very little is known about the implementation of CRA in the rural context.

In an effort to fill that knowledge gap, HAC regularly conducts research and analysis of CRA and its implementation in rural areas.

Read HAC's three-part series on CRA in Rural America:

• The Community Reinvestment Act and Mortgage Lending in Rural Communities
• Making CRA Work in Rural America: Finding “Outstanding” Financial Institutions
• Making CRA Work in Rural America: Partnerships and Opportunities for Rural Community Reinvestment