Jim Vitarello came to D.C. to study law at the George Washington University, where he received his JD in 1969. He subsequently worked in the Office of the General Counsel at HUD and then became the executive director of the D.C. Public Interest Research Group, a Ralph Nader affiliate organization. He conducted two major studies about the impact of redlining by banks in the District of Columbia. His findings were featured in the Washington Post and cited by the Senate Banking Committee as part of its passage of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act in 1975 and the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977. He also served as director of the D.C. Residential Mortgage Commission, the D.C. Neighborhood Reinvestment Commission, the National Commission on Neighborhoods, and later as Community Development Specialist at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Subsequently, he served as Senior Housing Specialist at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for 23 years.