Woodstock Institute is pleased to share the Chicago Area Community Lending Fact Book 2019 Data Edition, continuing a series begun in 1986 as part of our mission to analyze and disseminate data on access to loans and financial opportunity in the Chicago metropolitan area and beyond.
This edition represents an update from previous years. Changes reflect updates in the underlying data sources on one hand and our own sense of what’s most useful, based on conversations with users and experience handling community loan data.
The Community Lending Fact Book is made up of area profiles that include information on mortgage lending, community demographics, foreclosure trends, changes in the income levels of local homebuyers, business lending, and the activity of top lenders.
These data enable Fact Book users to monitor changes to key indicators of health in their neighborhood markets.
The lending data in the Fact Book come from reports that two federal laws, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), require. More information about HMDA and CRA, and the data that they require lenders to report, is available here.
After sharing Fact Book data online only for several years, we recently decided to again print a limited number of full-length Fact Books to provide a comprehensive and accessible resource. You can now access the data three ways:
- PDF download: click here to view a PDF version of the document
- Online data portal: the data portal lets users focus on a single research dimension or geographic area among other tools
- Hard copy: printed books are available free (while supplies last) by request to Beverly Berryhill at 312-368-0310 or bhill@woodstockinst.org.
Community data pages have historically been an important tool for community-based organizations, residents, advocates, lenders, and government agencies in monitoring lending and advocating for equitable lending in low- and moderate-income areas and communities of color. Read more about who uses the Fact Book and Data Portal here.
This edition represents an update from previous years. Changes reflect updates in the underlying data sources on one hand and our own sense of what’s most useful, based on conversations with users and experience handling community loan data.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of Fact Book sponsors and our general operating supporters:
Advocates Inc. D.C., LTD.
Associated Bank
BMO Harris Bank
Capital One
CIBC
Citi
Colonel Stanley R. McNeil Foundation
Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust
Fifth Third Bank
First Eagle Bank
First Midwest Bank
Illinois Charitable Trust
JPMorgan Chase Bank
Marquette Bank
MUFG Union Bank
Old Second National Bank
Polk Bros. Foundation
The Big Cat Foundation
The Chicago Community Trust
The Harris Family Foundation
The Huntington National Bank
Northern Trust
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
U.S. Bank
VantageScore Solutions, L.L.C.
Wintrust Bank
Woods Fund Chicago
We thank Spencer Cowan for his work bringing this Fact Book together, as well as consultants Michael Aumiller and Ray Carpenter, and others who assisted with the Fact Book and its publication: Research team members Janice Guzon and Tiffany Lyons, Brent Adams, Beverly Berryhill, Jane Doyle, Barbara Lacker-Ware, Gordon Mayer, and Horacio Mendez.
If you have questions, comments or suggestions related to the Fact Book, please contact Director of Research Spencer Cowan by email or by phone at 312-368-0310.