Issues and Data

The Center for Community Capital maintains data and background information on policy issues related to mortgage finance, consumer financial services and community development finance.

For more information or data on these issues, contact the center.

Knowledge Driving Policy

The Potential Power of Data Sharing and Usage — UNC Center for Community Capital Executive Director Janneke Ratcliffe and members of the National Association of Attorneys General discuss how better public policy decisions can be made and the public interest better served if policymakers and government agencies integrate independent researchers into their decision-making processes.

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Future of Housing Finance

Proposal for the Future of the Housing Finance System — Center executive director Janneke Ratcliffe's testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Hearing in March 2011 urges Congress to ensure the nation's new mortgage finance system provides broad access to reasonably priced financing for both homeownership and rental so that more families, including the historically underserved, will have safe and sustainable housing options.

Transparency as an Alternative to Risk Retention — Center executive director Janneke Ratcliffe tells the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services, and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs at a May 2011 hearing that risk retention and investor information are part of the solution to restoring confidence in the housing sector but also essential is ensuring that borrowers have access to sound, well-underwritten loans.

The Role of Private Mortgage Insurance — Center executive director Janneke Ratcliffe testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises urges policymakers to preserve this key wealth-building tool, which has helped expand access to homeownership for many Americans.

Community Reinvestment Act Regulation

Community Reinvestment Act Requirements — Center executive director Janneke Ratcliffe's testimony at a hearing on CRA regulations held by the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision in August 2010 urges federal regulators to refocus CRA requirements to ensure they result in broader access to financial services for low- and moderate-income consumers.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)

Reforming HMDA data collection — Center for Community Capital executive director Janneke Ratcliffe recommends in her Sept. 24 testimony before the Federal Reserve Board that the Fed preserve the unique features that make HMDA data so valuable while expanding and standardizing data collection to shore up important data gaps. Later, Ratcliffe and other leading researchers convened at the a gathering of The Ford Foundation to consider questions raised by the Fed and changes to HMDA outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act.

Federal Reserve Board testimony by Ratcliffe and others, Sept. 24, 2010
Commentary from Ford Foundation convening of leading researchers

Foreclosure Crisis

Five Fixes for the Foreclosure Crisis — Five policy actions that could help reduce foreclosures now.

CRA Did Not Cause the Foreclosure Crisis — Background piece that provides ample evidence that the 1977 legislation designed to prevent discrimination in financial services did not contribute to the financial crisis.

Fannie, Freddie and the Foreclosure Crisis — This background piece outlines the facts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's role in the foreclosure crisis. Ultimately, profit not policy was what motivated Fannie and Freddie and loan products not borrowers were what caused their collapse, facts that have important implications for reform of the housing system.

Mortgage Data

North Carolina Foreclosure Data
Center for Community Capital research assistant Kevin Park has created and maintains a portfolio of interactive maps displaying housing and mortgage lending data by North Carolina county and local areas. All maps and charts are derived from public data sources and can be saved as .jpeg images for others to use, with appropriate citation.

National Foreclosure and Servicing
Center researchers analyze data from 13 of the largest subprime mortgage services in the country for the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, a consortium of state attorneys general, state bank regulators and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. The data include information on mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures and loss-mitigation efforts, such as loan modification, from October 2007 to the present.

Subprime Lending by U.S. Congressional District
Maps prepared by center researchers that compare rates of subprime lending at the peak of the housing bubble to concentrations of low-income and minority households in every congressional district in the country.