Contested Interra Credit Union Move on Hickville Bank Is Misnoticed But Protested by Fair Finance Watch

Contested Interra Credit Union Move on Hickville Bank Is Misnoticed But Protested by Fair Finance Watch by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack FEDERAL COURT, June 2 – Interra Credit Union proposes to expand in Ohio by buying up The Hickville Bank. Many are opposing it; some have contacted Fair Finance Watch. FFW, after the Federal Reserve refused to act to ensure public access to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data,  has commented to the FDIC on the 2024 HMDA data: This is a timely first comment opposing and requesting an extension of the FDIC's public comment period on the proposal by The Hickville Bank to be acquired by Interra Credit Union. The FDIC's website lists an application by Hickville Bank to acquire.. Hickville Bank. If this is the Interra proposal, the notice is troublingly misleading and should be republished and the comment period started again. Fair Finance Watch, which has commented to the FDIC that its lawless decision to eliminate public notice of branch applications violates the CRA, noting the FDIC's rationale that it receives few public comments, hereby timely informs the FDIC of this:   Interra in Indiana in 2024 made 1003 mortgage loans to whites, with 220 denial to whites. By contrast it made only ONE loan to an African American, while denying five African Americans. This by itself is disqualifying.   Of course, there are many other grounds and sources of opposition... We will be submitting more comments before the stated June 27 expiration of the comment period. As stated above, this must be extended. FFW notes in the FDIC's pending proposal RIN 3064-AG10: "the FDIC has received a limited number of public comments in response to subpart C applications.... Therefore, the FDIC is proposing to eliminate the public notice and related public comment period from subpart C and to make conforming changes to subpart A of 12 CFR part 303 of the FDIC Rules."   See, e.g., American Banker, Sept 10, 2025, "The FDIC is taking the 'community' out of CRA enforcement," by Matthew R. Lee, https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-fdic-is-undercutting-a-key-element-of-the-cra     The Community Reinvestment Act specifies that "the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agency shall (1) assess the institution's record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institution; and (2) take such record into account in its evaluation of an application for a deposit facility by such institution."     That is, the only enforcement mechanism of CRA is its consideration on applications for deposit facilities: branches, and proposed mergers like this one.    But now the FDIC has blithely eliminated public notice and public comment on banks' proposals to expand.  The above-quoted reasoning is that few comments are filed. So, that is now changing. This comment period should be extended, evidentiary hearings should be held; and on the current record, the application should not be approved. Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com SDNY Press Room 500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2025 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com