February 7, 2024 – Of the 66 CRA ratings awarded to Massachusetts banks during 2023, fourteen (21.2%) were “Outstanding,” according to a report by the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA). This percentage is substantially above the average percentage of “Outstanding” ratings during the preceding nine years (14.4%). For federal regulators, the “Outstanding” share was 25.0% (10 of 40 ratings, including 5 of 9 the ratings by the OCC); for the state, the “Outstanding” share was 15.4% (4 of 26).
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-third 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 state’s eight biggest banks were all 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 (#7), and JPMorgan Chase (#8). The state’s ninth and tenth biggest banks, M&T and Berkshire, both received ratings of “Satisfactory.” Banks are ranked by total in-state deposits as reported by the FDIC for mid-2023.
Seventeen licensed mortgage lenders (LMLs) received CRA for Mortgage Lenders ratings during 2023; fourteen of these ratings were “Satisfactory,” while three were “Needs to Improve.” Of the 77 currently-licensed LMLs that have ever received CRA for Mortgage Lenders ratings, two (2.6%) have current ratings of “High Satisfactory,” 69 (89.6%) have current ratings of “Satisfactory,” and six (7.8%) have current ratings of “Needs to Improve.”
Three of the 50 state-chartered credit unions (6.0%) have “Outstanding” ratings: Align CU and Jeanne D’Arc CU (both of Lowell) and Metro CU (Chelsea). Nine more credit unions (18.0%) have ratings of “High Satisfactory.”
