Woodstock Institute influences policy at the local, regional, and national level by closely analyzing the impact of pending proposals on lower-income and minority communities. Many of these letters are available for download.
Woodstock Institute comments to federal banking regulators regarding the proposed Questions and Answers for the implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act regulations adopted by the Office of Thrift Supervision. Comments support a common, interagency definition of "community development" and encourage the OTS to adopt the "intermediate small bank" test currently in use by the remaining three bank regulators.
Comment letter on 2006 Office of Thrift Supervision proposal to make its Community Reinvestment Act examination procedures consistent with the other federal bank regulatory agencies.
Comment letter in support of the proposed FDIC Guidelines for Affordable Small Dollar Lending announced in early December to assist banks in responsibly meeting the small loan needs of their customers. The letter also supports the proposal to reward banks through the Community Reinvestment Act for developing appropriate loan products as well as the proposal to limit interest rates on these types of products to 36 percent.
Suggests the regulation implementing the small loan limits passed by the Department of Defense for service members and their dependants be applied all types of lenders, covers all types of loans not excluded by the law, and does place the burden on Service members to opt into protections.
Suggests that the responsible underwriting guidelines and the disclosure of a mortgage's full cost proposed in the interagency statement be applied to all loans, not strictly subprime adjustable-rate loans.
