NAAHL in the News

By Donna Kimura, Affordable Housing Finance

Brundage to Lead NAAHL Sarah Brundage has been appointed president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL). She will begin her position on Feb. 5. Brundage will lead the organization's affordable housing and community development policy advocacy following the retirement of Benson "Buzz" Roberts, who led the organization for nine years.

By Brad Stanhope, Novogradac

Buzz Roberts showed an early understanding of how community development financing works. "When I was in high school, I was a big New York Rangers [hockey] fan, but I could never get tickets to playoff games because unless you were a season-ticket, you had to camp out for them," said Roberts.

By Sam Manas, Inside Mortgage Finance

Neither consumer nor industry trade groups are fully satisfied with the final rule modernizing Community Reinvestment Act requirements. Lindsey Johnson, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, said the new framework will make it harder for banks to achieve an outstanding rating and the parameters around facility-based assessment areas could result in banks being unfairly categorized as needing improvement.

By Donna Kimura, Affordable Housing Finance

Affordable housing leaders are taking a close look at changes that could significantly reform Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requirements. Federal banking regulators—the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.—released their final rule Oct. 24.

By Andrew Ackerman, The Wall Street Journal

Top U.S. banking regulators have been struggling for more than five years to update anti-redlining rules aimed at making banks lend more in lower-income communities. On Tuesday, they plan to complete a revamp of them for the era of online banking.

By Georgia Kromrei, Law360

Banking regulators Tuesday approved a long-awaited regulatory overhaul of the Community Reinvestment Act, and although the federal anti-redlining statute was intended to correct past racist housing policies, the rule will not explicitly consider race in its assessment of bank lending practices.

By Kate Berry, American Banker

Benson F. "Buzz" Roberts (pictured), president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, will retire at the end of the year after a 45-year career in affordable housing and community development.

By Donna Kimura, Affordable Housing Finance

Benson “Buzz” Roberts, president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL), has announced that he will retire at the end of the year.