Members of National People's Action and Illinois People's Action spoke at the Federal Joint Public Hearing on the Community Reinvestment Act Regulation this morning, right before heading over to Bank of America's downtown Chicago offices, to put talk to action.

The protest at Bank of America was, unfortunately, a familiar story: another family being unjustly foreclosed on, another loan workout delayed, and another crowd of Americans fed up with Bank of America's innane practices.

New Report Shows How Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Bank of America Got Around the Community Reinvestment Act to Make Bad Loans

Major lenders have been subverting their legal responsibilities to meet the credit needs of their communities.

Federal regulators who oversee the relationships between America's banks and the consumers they are supposed to serve will hold a rulemaking hearing in Chicago Thursday. If the past is an indicator, the hearing will be long, complex, ignored by the news media -- and very important.

At issue is how to make the federal Community Reinvestment Act more relevant and effective in 2010 and for the years ahead. CRA is designed to hold financial institutions accountable for serving local consumer and business credit needs in the communities they serve and profit from.

To rebuild the economy and bring hope back to tens of millions of Americans we need the big banks to do their part to fix what they broke. This is the focus of Round Two in our fight to keep the banks honest.

The starting bell for round 2 sounds today in Arlington, Va. as the first of four bank accountability hearings will be held by the nation's federal banking regulators.

Last Thursday, bank regulatory agencies announced plans to hold hearings around the country regarding the need to update the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Modernizing CRA has been a key goal of our campaign to hold big banks accountable.

Updating CRA is needed to get good, quality loans moving in our communities. It will require regulators to work with communities to evaluate banks and ensure they are making good, fair loans in all communities.

After years of pushing and a series of meetings with Fed Chairman Bernanke, National People’s Action is pleased to report that the Federal Reserve will hold hearings this summer and fall on expanding the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

On Tuesday, while Mr. Dodd and Mr. Corker continued negotiating other provisions of the regulatory overhaul — notably, the extent to which state attorneys general would be able to enforce consumer protection rules against banks — the Federal Reserve’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, met with National People’s Action, an activist group that wants the Fed to restrict the banks it oversees from financing payday lenders.

The co-founder of Grass Roots Organizing, Brenda Procter, will be part of a delegation meeting Tues- day with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke in Wash- ington, D.C., urging him to take action on financial issues affecting low-income Americans.

Columbia resident Brenda Procter will meet with Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Tuesday to discuss financial reforms that will protect and empower consumers.

Procter, who co-founded Grass Roots Organizing is meeting Bernanke as part of a delegation from National People's Action, a network of organizations that campaign for social and economic justice.