Join WCRA
If you choose to become a member of WCRA, the following information should help explain how our lending pools operate, what fees are required, and what is necessary to proceed.
Membership Fee
- You pay a fee of $2,500 to join. The fee can be considered as an equity investment in the WCRA and qualifies under the CRA “investment test.”
Pool #1 (Primary WCRA Pool)
- All members are required to participate in Pool #1 with a minimum investment of $500,000. Pool #1 provides financing for housing and is revolving with a current lending capacity of $116,575,000. When you join WCRA, your portion of Pool #1 will be drawn on as we fund new loans committed to this pool.
Pool #2 (Voluntary Commitment)
- You may participate in Pool #2 at any amount of $200,000 or more. This pool was created in 1997 to increase the WCRA lending capacity for financing housing and revolves in the same manner as Pool #1. WCRA alternates loan commitments between these two housing Loan Pools.
Pool #3 (Voluntary Commitment)
- Pool #3 provides financing for (non-housing) real estate economic development projects. Examples could include: child care centers, community service office buildings, health clinics, etc. This pool operates in the same way as the housing pools and has a $200,000 minimum.
- In order to participate in either Pool #2 or Pool #3, you must also participate in Pool #1.
Other things to be aware of…
- Your membership in WCRA runs 2 years at a time. If you wish to withdraw from membership, you must notify us well in advance of the end of each 2 year period. If you withdraw membership, you are responsible for funding the loans that were committed to pools in which you participated during the term of your membership.
- You should check with your Regulators to determine if you will be able to gain credit (in the CRA lending test) for your “line of credit” commitments to WCRA. We do understand you can count your portion of the funded loans even if they are outside your lending area.
- In addition to the lending pools, we also have opportunities for CRA qualified investments through a Tax Exempt Bond Program. If you decide to join WCRA, we can make this opportunity available to you.
Download membership application templates:
- A sample of a Board Resolution and a Membership Request Letter are available below.