Code of Massachusetts Regulations
209 CMR - DIVISION OF BANKS AND LOAN AGENCIES
Title 209 CMR 46.00 - Community Reinvestment
Section 46.12 - Definitions
For purposes of 209 CMR 46.00, the following definitions apply:
Affiliate. Any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company. The term control has the meaning in 12 U.S.C. 1841(a)(2), and a company is under common control with another company if both companies are directly or indirectly controlled by the same company.
Area Median Income:
(a) the median family income for the MSA/CBSA, if a person or geography is located in an MSA/CBSA; or
(b) the statewide nonmetropolitan median family income, if a person or geography is located outside an MSA/CBSA.
Assessment Area. A geographic area delineated in accordance with 209 CMR 46.41 or another delineation for certain credit unions made pursuant to 209 CMR 46.41(8).
Automated Teller Machine (ATM). An automated, unstaffed banking facility owned or operated by, or operated exclusively for, the institution at which deposits are received, cash dispersed, or money lent.
Branch. A staffed banking facility established or acquired as a branch under Massachusetts law.
CBSA. A core based statistical area as defined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
CMSA. A consolidated metropolitan statistical area as defined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Commissioner. The Commissioner of Banks.
Community Development:
(a) affordable housing (including multifamily rental housing) for low- and moderate-income individuals;
(b) community services targeted to low- and moderate-income individuals;
(c) activities that promote economic development by financing businesses or farms that meet the size eligibility standards of the Small Business Administration's Development Company or Small Business Investment Company programs (13 CFR 121.301) or have gross annual revenues of $1 million or less; or
(d) activities that revitalize or stabilize the fishing industry.
(e) Activities that revitalize or stabilize -
1. Low- or moderate-income geographies;
2. Designated disaster areas; or
3. Distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies designated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; or
4. Any other such area as determined by the Commissioner based on -
a. Rates of poverty, unemployment, and population loss; or
b. Population Size, Density, and Dispersion. Activities revitalize and stabilize geographies designated based on population size, density, and dispersion if they help to meet essential community needs, including needs of low- and moderate-income individuals.
Community Development Loan :
(a) has as its primary purpose community development; and
(b) except in the case of a wholesale or limited purpose institution:
1. has not been reported or collected by the institution or an affiliate for consideration in the institution's assessment as a home mortgage, small business, small farm, or consumer loan, unless it is a multifamily dwelling loan (as described in Appendix A to 12 CFR 203, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's implementing regulations for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act); and
2. benefits the institution's assessment area(s) or a broader statewide or regional area that includes the institution's assessment area(s).
Community Development Service. A service that:
(a) has as its primary purpose community development;
(b) is related to the provision of financial services; and
(c) has not been considered in the evaluation of the institution's retail banking services under 209 CMR 46.24(5).
Consumer Loan. A loan to one or more individuals for household, family, or other personal expenditures. A consumer loan does not include a home mortgage, small business, or small farm loan. Consumer loans include the following categories of loans:
(a) Motor Vehicle Loan. A consumer loan extended for the purchase of and secured by a motor vehicle;
(b) Credit Card Loan. A line of credit for household, family, or other personal expenditures that is accessed by a borrower's use of a Credit Card, as defined in 209 CMR 32.02: Definitions and Rules of Construction;
(c) Home Equity Loan. A consumer loan secured by a residence of the borrower;
(d) Other Secured Consumer Loan. A secured consumer loan that is not included in one of the other categories of consumer loans; and
(e) Other Unsecured Consumer Loan. An unsecured consumer loan that is not included in one of the other categories of consumer loans.
Credit Union. A corporation chartered under M.G.L. c. 171. A credit union is also an Institution as defined in 209 CMR 46.00, except where otherwise specified by the provisions of 209 CMR 46.00.
Geography. A census tract or a block numbering area delineated by the United States Bureau of the Census in the most recent decennial census.
Home Mortgage Loan. A home improvement loan or a home purchase loan as defined in 12 CFR 203.2: The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
Income Level :
(a) Low-income, an individual income that is less than 50% of the area median income, or a median family income that is less than 50%, in the case of a geography.
(b) Moderate-income, an individual income that is at least 50% and less than 80% of the area median income, or a median family income that is at least 50% and less than 80%, in the case of a geography.
(c) Middle-income, an individual income that is at least 80% and less than 120% of the area median income, or a median family income that is at least 80% and less than 120%, in the case of a geography.
(d) Upper-income, an individual income that is 120% or more of the area median income, or a median family income that is 120% or more, in the case of a geography.
Institution. A bank or credit union chartered under the laws of the Commonwealth or an out-of-state bank, an out-of-state national bank or a foreign bank with a branch office in the Commonwealth; provided, however, Institution shall not include a credit union where otherwise specified under 209 CMR 46.00.
Limited Purpose Institution. An institution that offers only a narrow product line (such as credit card or motor vehicle loans) to a regional or broader market and for which a designation as a limited purpose institution is in effect, in accordance with 209 CMR 46.25(2).
Loan Location. A loan is located as follows:
(a) a consumer loan is located in the geography where the borrower resides;
(b) a home mortgage loan is located in the geography where the property to which the loan relates is located; and
(c) a small business or small farm loan is located in the geography where the main business facility or farm is located or where the loan proceeds otherwise will be applied, as indicated by the borrower.
Loan Production Office. A staffed facility, other than a branch, that is open to the public and that provides lending-related services, such as loan information and applications.
MSA. A metropolitan statistical area or a primary metropolitan statistical area as defined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Qualified Investment. A lawful investment, deposit, membership share, or grant that has as its primary purpose community development, and lawful investments in the following:
(a) corporations for the purpose of micro-lending in the area of small business, small farms, and the fishing industry;
(b) corporations for the purpose of providing technical assistance to nonprofit housing corporations, small businesses and farms for the purpose of establishing creditworthiness;
(c) contributions to any private nonprofit organization organized for improving the social and economic conditions, such as community development programs, small business technical assistance, and educational institutions, in communities in which the institution has an office;
(d) contributions for the purpose of relieving suffering or distress resulting from disaster or other calamity, such as hurricane or flood, occurring in any part of the Commonwealth; and
(e) the small business capital access program (CAP), pursuant to M.G.L. c. 23A, § 57.
Small Institution:
(a) An institution that, as of December 31st of either of the prior two calendar years, had total assets of less than $1 billion.
(b) Intermediate Small Institution. A small institution with assets of at least $250 million as of December 31st of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1 billion as of December 31st of either of the prior two calendar years.
(c) Adjustment. The dollar figures in the small bank definition 209 CMR 46.12 shall be adjusted annually and published by the Commissioner, based on the year to year change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, not seasonally adjusted for each 12-month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million.
Small Business Loan. A loan included in Loans to Small Businesses as defined in the instructions for preparation of the Consolidated Report of Condition and Income.
Small Farm Loan. A loan included in Loans to Small Farms as defined in the instructions for preparation of the Consolidated Report of Condition and Income.
Wholesale Institution. An institution that is not in the business of extending home mortgage, small business, small farm, or consumer loans to retail customers, and for which a designation as a wholesale institution is in effect, in accordance with 209 CMR 46.25(2).
