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By
Kelly Obit
Community Organizer
Syracuse United Neighbors
Syracuse, NY
I remember playing
dominoes as a child. Back then I didn’t care how many dots
were on each piece. I didn’t know how to play the actual game.
All I cared about was setting up each domino strategically so that
when one piece was knocked down, the others fell one-by-one. Community
reinvestment organizing has proven the truth of the domino effect-
a change though small in itself, will cause a similar change nearby,
which then will cause another similar change and before you know
it – the whole line will fall.
1. The CRA Domino effect is as easy as 1-2-3:
Make sure all the key pieces are in the right place before knocking
over the first one.
Strong leaders are obviously key. Last August, Syracuse United Neighbor’s
(SUN’s) banking committee leaders were downtrodden and lacked
confidence. Two years of negotiations with M&T Bank abruptly
ended with the bank’s refusal to sign a CRA agreement with
SUN. After a hit at an M&T branch and a meeting with regulators
from the Federal Reserve and the NY State Banking Department to
complain about M&T’s poor performance, there was still
no movement. Leaders were burnt out and discouraged and decided
it was time to change direction. We decided to start small.
SUN used the National Training and Information Center’s low
down payment product as a tool to open communication with smaller
local lenders. SUN hosted a joint luncheon with Fannie Mae to formally
present the product. At the luncheon SUN leaders invited three lending
institutions to meet with us to further discuss the product. It
worked! Within one week we had a date set to meet with each lending
institution.
The next part may be a bit manipulative, but it worked. While SUN
met with each bank to discuss the NTIC loan product, we asked if
they would be willing to take a look at a draft CRA agreement and
make some notes on changes. Then, we made sure to set a next meeting
date. We’ve moved from a luncheon to negotiations without
the bank really knowing what hit them. The pieces were all set up.
We just had to test the waters to see which lending institution
would fall first.
2. When one bank caves, it’s time to
increase the pressure.
As we suspected, the progressive Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit
Union said right away that they would be willing to sign a CRA agreement.
This victory helped leaders to build confidence and believe that
they can win.
“It feels good to have someone who wants to work with us and
who wants to make loans in my neighborhood,” said Amanda Pascall,
southside resident.
The win helped leaders gear up to put the heat on the other banks.
We put more pressure on Solvay Bank and requested a meeting with
their Vice President and their board of decision makers. Our leaders
had a kick ass meeting and won a commitment from Solvay bank to
sign an agreement. We are in the process of finalizing the agreement.
3. The domino effect is in full force- the
banks are falling one-by-one!
Our leaders felt so confident with a few wins under their belt that
they decided we needed to revisit our long time nemesis M&T
Bank. We went straight for the kill. In July, 30 angry SUN members
marched up to the home of Matthew Schiro, President of M&T’s
Syracuse division, and demanded a meeting. We gained massive press
attention with our hit. M&T Bank’s redlining practices
were plastered across the front page. We won the meeting, started
negotiations and they have agreed to sign an agreement. We plan
to have the agreement finalized by the end of September.
SUN plans to use each bank’s strengths to increase lending
and home ownership in our neighborhoods. It’s a simple concept:
set them up, knock one down and watch them fall one by one.
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