Can someone just tell me I am now the CRA person or officer or is it something the board of directors appoints?
Thanks for any input.

It is not a position that requires a board of director appointment unless there is a bank policy to do so. If its a VP position the board may pass on the appointment of a VP position but not usually the person that fills it.

Basically if you are a bank officer and are absent the day the banks needs to have a CRA officer appointed you could very well be the new CRA officer. - - -Just kidding

In smaller banks the CRA officer position may be a secondary responsibility added to a primary responsibility as a loan officer.

In larger institutions it is a full time position and may even have a CRA staff.

Either way it is normally a bank management appontment .

so if I am the loan review person and the so named "loan compliance officer" doesn't want the job of CRA officer (they are a vp/officer I am not)and someone says well, you can do that too since there isn't much to it - then I'm it?

I guess I shouldn't have been out that day? lol

sorry that anon was me - I forgot I had logged out

If you do not want the job then I would express that. The CRA officer has a lot of responsibility and the person that tells you there is not much to it, has no idea what they are talking about. It is not a honory position to be taken lightly.

Just look at all the questions in these forums from seasoned Compliance Officers.

The CRA officer is a very critical position at any bank. As such, your performance will be very high profile. If you are ambitious and intelligent and responsible it could be a very good opportunity. However, keep in mind that most banks unfortunately regard CRA as another regulatory nuisance and a cost center. Your challenge will be to get Senior Management support and the key to that is showing them the positive elements of CRA, in particular the tremendous amount of loan market data that is a byproduct of CRA. When you can show Sr. Mgt. your bank's market rank, market share and other important performance context data you will be well on your way to getting the positive attitude needed to get Senior Management support.

CRA is one thing, "Officer" is another It sounds like at your bank, the position is not currently an officer level. Prior to my joining my bank, they were an officer, but without any other title (AVP, VP, etc).

As Don mentions and Len, CRA is not a duty to be taken lightly, unless you enjoy failure. I personally don't accept "appointments" (ie "You now do CRA ok?"). I am a professional and expect to be treated as such. You should be no different. (There's the career counseling portion of my speach)

Now to the CRA portion of my speach. I love CRA. I was hired with the understanding that it would not only be officer level but AVP (which was a stretch because this bank had only given those titles to lenders). I was currently a VP at another bank and they wanted me...so they gave me what I asked. I also asked for much more money than the prior person (this is not a job you should be paid poorly at!). Again, they wanted me. I was promoted in one year to VP, scandalizing the lending staff (not all of them but it was a pretty funny reaction). I received the promotion because I am pretty darned good at what I do, and I expect the respect due to me for that performance.

So officer or no officer, ask yourself first, do you want this? How does your bank feel about CRA? (What's you current rating and have you read your performance eval yet?) Will they support you if you throw yourself all into this challenge, or are you supposed to do this and produce loan docs too? If the answers are positive, go back and say "yes" I'll take the challenge, but I expect officer level in six months, and AVP in "whatever makes sense at your bank".

I will tell you, lenders are silly beasts (I used to be one so I know first hand). They know who the bank respects, and often cast their respect in the same direction. If you want to be successful in this position, you MUST HAVE lender support as well as senior management. You need their help in reporting correctly, etc., and if they don't respect you, they won't make the effort and you will fail.

Go forth and kick arse I've done it all in banking, and frankly made much more money than I do now, but never loved my job as much as I do now.