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'Piggybacking credit' is a new practice that helps consumers improve their credit scores by paying to become 'authorized users' on established accounts. Authorized users are not liable for paying an [...]

Highlights the results of a research relating to the proposals to revise the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in the United States. Need for federally insured banking institutions to be evaluated on their records of helping to meet the credit needs of their local communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods; Brief description of the CRA; Large- and small-institution evaluation; Agencies' proposals to amend the CRA regulations. INSETS: The Large-Institution Evaluation;The Small-Institution Evaluation.

Reports on the role of information that credit-reporting agencies maintain on consumers' credit-related experiences in credit markets in the U.S. Effects of data limitations on consumers' access to credit; Concern among financial analysts about the accuracy, completeness, timeliness and consistency of consumer credit records; Elements of credit models used to generate credit history scores.

Theories of discrimination in credit markets suggest that under certain circumstances systematic lender bias may result in creditors holding minority applicants or applicants from minority neighborhoods to higher standards of creditworthiness than other borrowers. This implies lower default rates or smaller dollar losses on loans to marginally qualified minority borrowers or borrowers from minority neighborhoods, compared to loans extended to other similarly qualified borrowers. This study seeks to test this prediction by examining the default-risk characteristics of FHA-insured single-family residential mortgages. All things equal, empirical findings fail to support the theoretical predictions that observed default rates are relatively lower among minority borrowers or neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]