I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 190

To amend the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, the Equal Credit

Opportunity Act, and the Fair Housing Act to improve the administration of such Acts, to prohibit redlining in connection with the provision

of credit, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. MCCOLLUM (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. PAUL, Mr. RILEY, and Mr.

HILL of Montana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the

Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, the

Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Fair Housing

Act to improve the administration of such Acts, to prohibit redlining in connection with the provision of credit,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Credit Opportunity

5 Amendments Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT

2 ACT OF 1977.

3 (a) RECORD OF MEETING COMMUNITY NEEDS

4 TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN EXAMINATION OF MANAGE5 MENT.—Section 804(a) of the Community Reinvestment

6 Act of 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2903(a)) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘to assure the accuracy of the disclosures

9 required by section 807.’’;

10 (2) by striking ‘‘shall—’’ and all that follows

11 through ‘‘assess’’ and inserting ‘‘shall assess’’; and

12 (3) by striking paragraph (2).

13 (b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.—Section 807 of the

14 Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2906)

15 is amended to read as follows:

16 ‘‘SEC. 807. DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT

17 ACTIVITIES.

18 ‘‘Each regulated financial institution shall prepare

19 and make available to the public at each office of such

20 institution where deposits are accepted a written descrip21 tion of the lending programs and other activities of the

22 institution which are designed to enhance the availability

23 of credit in the community, including low- and moderate24 income neighborhoods, served by the institution.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY

2 ACT.

3 (a) REDLINING PROHIBITED.—Section 701(a) of the

4 Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1691(a)) is

5 amended—

6 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

7 end;

8 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), the follow11 ing new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(4) on the basis of the racial or ethnic charac13 teristics of the neighborhood surrounding the appli14 cant’s dwelling or business.’’.

15 (b) AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL LIMITED

16 TO REFERRAL CASES.—Section 706(h) of the Consumer

17 Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1691e(h)) is amended

18 by striking ‘‘or whenever he has reason to believe one or

19 more creditors are engaged in a pattern or practice in vio20 lation of this title,’’.

21 (c) CLARIFICATION OF CAUSES OF ACTION.—Section

22 706 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C.

23 1691e) is amended by adding at the end the following new

24 subsection:

25 ‘‘(l) DISPARATE IMPACT CASES.—No provision of

26 this title shall be construed as allowing statistical data
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1 which tends to show that the credit decisions of a creditor

2 have had a disparate impact on various classes of credit

3 applicants to be used as evidence, in any action under this

4 section, that the creditor engaged in a pattern or practice

5 in violation of this title without additional evidence that—

6 ‘‘(1) the pattern or practice actually discrimi7 nated against any person or class on a prohibited

8 basis; and

9 ‘‘(2) the creditor engaged in such pattern or

10 practice with the purpose or intent to engage in an

11 activity in violation of this title.’’.

12 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO FAIR HOUSING ACT.

13 (a) REDLINING PROHIBITED.—Section 805(a) of the

14 Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3605(a)) is amended by in15 serting ‘‘or on the basis of the racial or ethnic characteris16 tics of the neighborhood surrounding the person’s dwell17 ing’’ before the period at the end.

18 (b) AUTHORITY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL LIMITED

19 TO REFERRAL CASES.—Section 814 of the Fair Housing

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 3614) is amended by striking subsection

21 (a).

22 (c) CLARIFICATION OF CAUSES OF ACTION.—Section

23 813 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3613) is amended

24 by adding at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(f) DISPARATE IMPACT CASES.—No provision of

2 this title shall be construed as allowing statistical data

3 which tends to show that the business decisions of any

4 person have had a disparate impact on various classes of

5 individuals to be used as evidence, in any action or pro6 ceeding under this title, that such person engaged in a

7 pattern or practice in violation of this title without addi8 tional evidence that—

9 ‘‘(1) the pattern or practice actually discrimi10 nated against any individual or class on a prohibited

11 basis; and

12 ‘‘(2) such person engaged in such pattern or

13 practice with the purpose or intent to engage in an

14 activity in violation of this title.’’.

Æ