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12 C.F.R. Subpart A—General

Title 12 - Banks and Banking

Title 12: Banks and Banking
PART 563e—COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT

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Subpart A—General

Source:  60 FR 22212, May 4, 1995, unless otherwise noted.

§ 563e.11   Authority, purposes, and scope.

(a) Authority and OMB control number—(1) Authority. This part is issued under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), as amended (12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); section 5, as amended, and sections 3, 4, and 10, as added, of the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933 (12 U.S.C. 1462a, 1463, 1464, and 1467a); and sections 4, 6, and 18(c), as amended of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1814, 1816, 1828(c)).

(2) OMB control number. The information collection requirements contained in this part were approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the provisions of 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and have been assigned OMB control number 1550–0012.

(b) Purposes. In enacting the CRA, the Congress required each appropriate Federal financial supervisory agency to assess an institution's record of helping to meet the credit needs of the local communities in which the institution is chartered, consistent with the safe and sound operation of the institution, and to take this record into account in the agency's evaluation of an application for a deposit facility by the institution. This part is intended to carry out the purposes of the CRA by:

(1) Establishing the framework and criteria by which the OTS assesses a savings association's record of helping to meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operation of the savings association; and

(2) Providing that the OTS takes that record into account in considering certain applications.

(c) Scope—(1) General. This part applies to all savings associations except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(2) Certain special purpose savings associations. This part does not apply to special purpose savings associations that do not perform commercial or retail banking services by granting credit to the public in the ordinary course of business, other than as incident to their specialized operations. These associations include banker's banks, as defined in 12 U.S.C. 24 (Seventh), and associations that engage only in one or more of the following activities: providing cash management controlled disbursement services or serving as correspondent associations, trust companies, or clearing agents.

[60 FR 22212, May 4, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 67708, Dec. 30, 1997]

§ 563e.12   Definitions.

For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

(a) Affiliate means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company. The term “control” has the meaning given to that term in 12 U.S.C. 1841(a)(2), and a company is under common control with another company if both companies are directly or indirectly controlled by the same company.

(b) Area median income means:

(1) The median family income for the MSA, if a person or geography is located in an MSA, or for the metropolitan division, if a person or geography is located in an MSA that has been subdivided into metropolitan divisions; or

(2) The statewide nonmetropolitan median family income, if a person or geography is located outside an MSA.

(c) Assessment area means a geographic area delineated in accordance with §563e.41.

(d) Automated teller machine (ATM) means an automated, unstaffed banking facility owned or operated by, or operated exclusively for, the savings association at which deposits are received, cash dispersed, or money lent.

(e) [Reserved]

(f) Branch means a staffed banking facility authorized as a branch, whether shared or unshared, including, for example, a mini-branch in a grocery store or a branch operated in conjunction with any other local business or nonprofit organization.

(g) Community development means:

(1) Affordable housing (including multifamily rental housing) for low or moderate-income individuals;

(2) Community services targeted to low- or moderate-income individuals;

(3) Activities that promote economic development by financing businesses or farms that meet the size eligibility standards of the Small Business Administration's Development Company or Small Business Investment Company programs (13 CFR 121.301) or have gross annual revenues of $1 million or less; or

(4) Activities that revitalize or stabilize—

(i) Low- or moderate-income geographies;

(ii) Designated disaster areas; or

(iii) Distressed or underserved, nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies designated by OTS based on—

(A) Rates of poverty, unemployment, and population loss; or

(B) Population size, density, and dispersion. Activities revitalize and stabilize geographies designated based on population size, density, and dispersion if they help to meet essential community needs, including needs of low- and moderate-income individuals.

(h) Community development loan means a loan that:

(1) Has as its primary purpose community development; and

(2) Except in the case of a wholesale or limited purpose savings association:

(i) Has not been reported or collected by the savings association or an affiliate for consideration in the savings association's assessment as a home mortgage, small business, small farm, or consumer loan, unless it is a multifamily dwelling loan (as described in Appendix A to Part 203 of this title); and

(ii) Benefits the savings association's assessment area(s) or a broader statewide or regional area that includes the savings association's assessment area(s).

(i) Community development service means a service that:

(1) Has as its primary purpose community development;

(2) Is related to the provision of financial services; and

(3) Has not been considered in the evaluation of the savings association's retail banking services under §563e.24(d).

(j) Consumer loan means a loan to one or more individuals for household, family, or other personal expenditures. A consumer loan does not include a home mortgage, small business, or small farm loan. Consumer loans include the following categories of loans:

(1) Motor vehicle loan, which is a consumer loan extended for the purchase of and secured by a motor vehicle;

(2) Credit card loan, which is a line of credit for household, family, or other personal expenditures that is accessed by a borrower's use of a “credit card,” as this term is defined in §226.2 of this title;

(3) Home equity loan, which is a consumer loan secured by a residence of the borrower;

(4) Other secured consumer loan, which is a secured consumer loan that is not included in one of the other categories of consumer loans; and

(5) Other unsecured consumer loan, which is an unsecured consumer loan that is not included in one of the other categories of consumer loans.

(k) Geography means a census tract delineated by the United States Bureau of the Census in the most recent decennial census.

(l) Home mortgage loan means a “home improvement loan,” “home purchase loan,” or a “refinancing” as defined in §203.2 of this title.

(m) Income level includes:

(1) Low-income, which means an individual income that is less than 50 percent of the area median income or a median family income that is less than 50 percent in the case of a geography.

(2) Moderate-income, which means an individual income that is at least 50 percent and less than 80 percent of the area median income or a median family income that is at least 50 and less than 80 percent in the case of a geography.

(3) Middle-income, which means an individual income that is at least 80 percent and less than 120 percent of the area median income or a median family income that is at least 80 and less than 120 percent in the case of a geography.

(4) Upper-income, which means an individual income that is 120 percent or more of the area median income or a median family income that is 120 percent or more in the case of a geography.

(n) Limited purpose savings association means a savings association that offers only a narrow product line (such as credit card or motor vehicle loans) to a regional or broader market and for which a designation as a limited purpose savings association is in effect, in accordance with §563e.25(b).

(o) Loan location. A loan is located as follows:

(1) A consumer loan is located in the geography where the borrower resides;

(2) A home mortgage loan is located in the geography where the property to which the loan relates is located; and

(3) A small business or small farm loan is located in the geography where the main business facility or farm is located or where the loan proceeds otherwise will be applied, as indicated by the borrower.

(p) Loan production office means a staffed facility, other than a branch, that is open to the public and that provides lending-related services, such as loan information and applications.

(q) Metropolitan division means a metropolitan division as defined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(r) MSA means a metropolitan statistical area as defined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(s) Nonmetropolitan area means any area that is not located in an MSA.

(t) Qualified investment means a lawful investment, deposit, membership share, or grant that has as its primary purpose community development.

(u) Small savings association means a savings association that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had total assets of less than $1 billion.

(v) Small business loan means a loan included in “loans to small businesses” as defined in the instructions for preparation of the Thrift Financial Report.

(w) Small farm loan means a loan included in “loans to small farms” as defined in the instructions for preparation of the Thrift Financial Report.

(x) Wholesale savings association means a savings association that is not in the business of extending home mortgage, small business, small farm, or consumer loans to retail customers, and for which a designation as a wholesale savings association is in effect, in accordance with §563e.25(b).

[60 FR 22212, May 4, 1995, as amended at 60 FR 66050, Dec. 20, 1995; 61 FR 21364, May 10, 1996; 69 FR 41188, July 8, 2004; 69 FR 51161, Aug. 18, 2004; 71 FR 18618, Apr. 12, 2006]

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