January 29, 2023 – Of the 61 CRA ratings awarded to Massachusetts banks during 2022, eight (13.1%) were “Outstanding,” according to a report issued today by the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA). The share of “Outstanding” ratings is down from 17.6% in 2021, but higher than in the 2015-2017 period. For federal regulators, the “Outstanding” share was 17.6% (6 of 34 ratings); for the state, the “Outstanding” share was just 7.4% (2 of 27).
The report was prepared for MAHA by Jim Campen, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a long-time member of MAHA's Board of Directors.
MAHA's thirty-second annual report lists the CRA ratings assessed to all Massachusetts banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies and evaluates the performance of the three federal regulators and the Massachusetts Division of Banks in reviewing bank performance in meeting community needs.
The states six biggest banks, and seven of the top ten, were rated “Outstanding” in their most recent CRA exams: State Street (#1), Bank of America (#2), Citizens (#3), Santander (#4), TD Bank (#5), Eastern (#6), Rockland Trust (#8). This is down from eight last year, but up from six at the end of 2020 and five at the end of 2017, 2018, and 2019. First Republic (#7), M&T (#9) and Berkshire (#10) have most recent ratings of “Satisfactory.”
Sixteen licensed mortgage lenders (LMLs) received CRA for Mortgage Lenders ratings during 2022; none were "Outstanding," fifteen of the ratings were “Satisfactory,” while one was “Needs Improvement.” Of the 75 currently-licensed LMLs that have ever received CRA for Mortgage Lenders ratings, two (2.7%) have current ratings of “High Satisfactory,” 68 (90.7%) have current ratings of “Satisfactory,” and five (6.7%) have current ratings of “Needs to Improve.”
Three of the 51 state-chartered credit unions (5.9%) have “Outstanding” ratings: Align CU and Jeanne D’Arc CU (both of Lowell) and Metro CU (Chelsea). Eight more credit unions (15.7%) have ratings of “High Satisfactory.”
