Let’s Make Saving Water a Way of Life

National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) President and CEO Jesse Van Tol

said.

“KeyBank got an ‘Outstanding’ rating two years ago – and it’s clear now that was the wrong call,” continued Van Tol. “They promised to use their merger with First Niagara to buoy the economic interests of under-resourced communities, then turned around and did the opposite in most of the cities they serve – all while passing the new profits from the merger on to shareholders and insiders. Regulators have an obvious duty to act, not only for the communities KeyBank hoodwinked but also to show the industry as a whole that this kind of conduct is not okay.”

A March 31 letter to federal regulators reviewed a list of promises the bank made before a merger with First Niagara was approved and included:

Goals for loans, investments, and products specifically aimed at benefitting LMI individuals and communities, including home mortgages, small business loans, community development loans, investments, and philanthropic contributions; Bank branches in LMI communities across the bank’s geographic footprint and, separately, the state of New York; An additional branch in an LMI community in East Buffalo and

Enhance its diversity and inclusion policies, expand its community engagement and marketing efforts; and

Create an advisory council made up of various community organizations that will meet periodically to assess KeyBank’s progress under the Plan and to be informed of the bank’s future.

Instead, an NCRC research report released last November documents how the bank used the merger profits to benefit wealthy borrowers at the exclusion of Blacks. Further, Key Bank’s alleged redlining went beyond its Western New York state markets and included cities ranging from Western cities like Seattle, Portland and Denver, to the Midwest heartland of Indianapolis, Columbus and Cleveland to the East in Philadelphia, and New York City. Findings showed that Key Bank:

Had the lowest percent of mortgage originations to Black borrowers among the 50 largest mortgage lenders.

;imited its home mortgage lending in census tracts where Black residents are clustered;.

It approved mortgages for low-income White applicants at a higher rate than for highincome Black applicants; and

From 2018 to 2021 its share of home purchase lending to Black and LMI borrowers dropped by double digits.

“KeyBank executives used the 2016 merger to dramatically expand the bank’s home purchase lending business,” states the report. “But it effectively excluded Black families from that expansion, instead growing the home purchase arm of its profit-seeking efforts by focusing investments on wealthier, whiter borrowers.

“Since 2018 – the first full year of data following KeyBank’s formal commitment to increase lending to LMI borrowers –KeyBank has in fact done less lending to both LMI and Black borrowers with each passing year. This trend is visible in nearly all of the bank’s top markets. Across those markets it generally trails the top ten bank lenders in lending to LMI and Black borrowers in 2021,” concludes the report.

Beyond a downgraded CRA rating, advocates are also calling for three additional actions:

A redlining investigation of KeyBank’s mortgage lending;

A data integrity review of KeyBank; and

An examination of KeyBank’s compliance with public commitments made in connection with its acquisition of First Niagara Bank, including in its Community Benefits Agreement as well as job growth commitments.

If regulators downgrade the bank’s CRA rating, it would pause KeyBank’s ability to merge or open new branches until it demonstrates improved performance in a future CRA exam.

Nearly 53,000 student loan borrowers in California approved for Public Service Loan Forgiveness

PSLF highlighted as Public Service Recognition Week begins

Today, to mark Public Service Recognition Week, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced it has approved nearly 616,000 borrowers nationwide for approximately $42 billion in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) since October 2021.

PSLF covers public employees—such as teachers, firefighters, and members of law enforcement, as well as those who work for a non-profit organization—in a variety of fields by forgiving the remaining federal student loan balance for those who make the required 120 qualifying monthly payments.

In fact, PSLF is making an incredible difference for public servants in California:

Between October 2021 and May 2023, the Department has approved nearly 53,000 borrowers in California for more than $3.6 billion in loan forgiveness under temporary changes the Biden-Harris Administration made to the PSLF Program. That’s nearly $70,000 per borrower!

While hundreds of thousands of California borrowers already have benefited from PSLF, more will benefit as the program continues.

“Since Day One, the BidenHarris Administration has worked relentlessly to fix a broken student loan system, including by making sure we fulfill the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness for those who have spent a decade or more serving our communities and our country,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “To date, the Biden-Harris team has kept that promise for more than 615,000 teachers, nurses, social workers, servicemembers, and other public servants by approving a combined $42 billion in student loan debt forgiveness. The difference that Public Service Loan Forgiveness is making in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans reminds us why we must continue doing everything we can to fight for borrowers and why families cannot afford to have progress derailed by partisan politicians. During Public Service Recognition Week—and every week—we thank all those who serve our communities.”

Public Service Recognition

Week celebrates individuals who serve the United States and local communities as employees of federal, state, local, or tribal government.

Recent Improvements to the PSLF Application Process

In addition to record approvals, the Department is also announcing that for the first time, borrowers can now sign and submit their PSLF forms digitally and closely track their status through the process.

These significant changes to the PSLF application process create a faster, more straightforward, and more transparent process for borrowers.

The changes also improve the experience for public service employers, who now can confirm a borrower’s employment digitally via DocuSign.

Background Information about the PSLF Program

Visit StudentAid.gov/ publicservice to learn more about:

Qualifying Employment

Eligible Loans

Qualifying Payments

Qualifying Repayment Plans

The PSLF Process

The PSLF Help Tool A resource you can share with your readers, viewers, and followers:

Federal Student Aid’s Become a Public Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Help Tool Ninja article

Will you help the Department spread the word about PSLF to California federal student loan borrowers? Your audience may not be aware of this program and would find it valuable to know about it and understand how they could benefit from it. Encourage public servants in California to visit StudentAid. gov/publicservice to learn more.

The national press release for this announcement is at U.S. Department of Education Announces

$42 Billion in Approved Public Service Loan Forgiveness for More Than 615,000 Borrowers Since October 2021 | U.S. Department of Education