2008 Issue No. 1
Table of Contents

News and Notes

Call for papers: 2009 Fed Community Affairs research conference

The Community Affairs officers of the Federal Reserve System have issued a call for papers for their sixth biennial research conference. The event, titled "Innovative Financial Services for the Underserved: Opportunities and Outcomes," will be held April 16–17, 2009, in Washington, D.C. It will bring together a diverse audience from academia, financial institutions, community organizations, foundations, and the government. Conference planners welcome research papers and studies that explore innovations in the financial services industry and their implications for low- and moderate-income consumers, financial educators and regulators, and the economy. Preference will be given to papers that stress verifiable, statistically valid research. Completed papers (preferred) or detailed abstracts should be submitted to the program committee by July 15, 2008. For more information on topics and submission requirements, e-mail KC.CAResearchConf@kc.frb.org or call 816-881-2004.

Fed creates one-stop help center for consumers

The Federal Reserve System (FRS) recently launched Federal Reserve Consumer Help (FRCH), a centralized resource for processing consumer complaints and inquiries about banks and other financial institutions. FRCH is designed to give consumers a streamlined means of obtaining assistance with banking-related questions or concerns.

The FRS is one of five federal banking regulators charged with ensuring that financial institutions comply with consumer protection and fair lending laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Truth in Lending Act. If a consumer suspects that a bank's policies or practices violate any of these laws, he or she has the right to file a complaint with the bank's federal regulator. However, it is not always apparent which regulator supervises which institution. Prior to the creation of FRCH, consumers sometimes had to make several inquiries before locating the appropriate agency.

Now, through FRCH, a consumer can file a complaint about any financial institution—regardless of the institution's regulator—via a single point of contact. FRCH customer service representatives record the complaint and then process it according to which federal regulator has supervisory authority over the institution. A complaint related to a bank that is supervised by the FRS is transferred to the Federal Reserve Bank in whose district the bank is located. Complaints about other institutions are forwarded to the appropriate federal regulators. After the appropriate regulator receives a complaint, it begins investigating the matter to determine whether any laws have been violated.

Community Affairs releases mortgage broker regulation report

The Community Affairs office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has released a report that catalogs the changes in mortgage broker regulations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia over the previous decade. The report, titled A Compilation of State Mortgage Broker Laws and Regulations, 1996–2006, includes detailed, state-by-state descriptions of mortgage broker laws and regulations; information on the report's data sources; an overview of occupational licensing; and a glossary of terms. Extensive supplementary materials display the report's data in a tabular format, enabling readers to review and compare state mortgage broker licensing schemes at a glance. To access the report and its supplements, visit www.minneapolisfed.org/community/pubs.

For related discussions, see:

• "License to deal: Regulation in the mortgage broker industry," Community Dividend, Issue 3, 2006. Available via the link listed above.
• Mortgage Broker Regulations That Matter: Analyzing Earnings, Employment, and Outcomes for Consumers, a forthcoming National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by University of Minnesota Professor Morris M. Kleiner and Minneapolis Fed Vice President Richard M. Todd. Available soon at www.nber.org.

Treasury announces New Markets Tax Credit allocations

Sixty-one organizations will receive a total of $3.9 billion in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) over the next seven years, according to an October 2007 announcement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Eleven of the allocations, representing $945 million of the total, will go to organizations that serve portions of the Ninth Federal Reserve District.

The NMTC Program, which is administered by the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, promotes private-sector capital investment in underserved areas by providing federal tax credits to individual or corporate taxpayers who make qualified investments in low-income communities. To qualify for NMTCs, taxpayers must provide their investments through intermediary vehicles known as Community Development Entities, or CDEs. A CDE is a domestic, nonprofit or for-profit corporation or partnership with a primary mission of serving low- and moderate-income persons or communities. NMTCs are allocated through a competitive application process and then claimed over a seven-year period. The total credit for each allocatee equals 39 percent of the cost of investment.