Community banks leery about new lending reviews. (Wisconsin)

Tom Sheehan was surprised by the Community Reinvestment Act examination he received last year. The review of lending practices to low-income borrowers and disadvantaged business owners was conducted under standards that did not actually go into effect until this past August.

Grafton State Bank, where Sheehan is president, received an outstanding rating on its examination, the highest possible mark. Under a new system of review, Sheehan was unsure about what the bank would need to prove.

"The burden really moves to the examiner to find the community impact of the bank," he said.

Federal regulators spent two weeks in Grafton, meeting with local businesses …