Ask Sarah Brundage what the most untold story about housing is, and her answer would probably come quickly: the CRA.
The Community Reinvestment Act “may be the most consequential law for homeownership, housing, neighborhood affordability and small businesses,” said Brundage, the president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL). “And that’s a story that deserves telling.”
The story is getting more attention with a report her nonprofit released July 24 called “Incentive to Impact: How CRA Leverages Private Investments into Affordable Housing, Homeownership, Small Businesses, and Local Economies.”
Enacted in 1977, the CRA was designed to prevent redlining, the illegal practice of denying credit access to neig...




