Nine of 10 whites in Chicago borrow from top-drawer banks and mortgage companies, which the industry calls prime lenders. They lend to people with A credit ratings, making loans at competitive rates.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Subprime lending is growing faster in black areas than in white areas.
Groups that work in black neighborhoods around the country have contended that much of subprime lending is 'predatory lending.'
Blacks are about seven times more likely to live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty than whites.
Banks need to continue to lend to creditworthy borrowers to earn a profit and remain strong.
The banks are not lending, at least from what I see. They were so wild and reckless back in the good times that they got burned terribly.
Lenders look at potential borrowers from many angles before extending credit: How much of its income will a household need to put into debt repayment? How large is the down payment? Does the borrower have a job with a stable income? What is the borrower's credit score?
People with banking experience haven't all flocked to the biggest banks; community banks and regional banks, along with smaller trading houses and credit unions, have some very talented people.
One of the biggest problems out there that I hear from my friends in the business community is that there's no lending, that it's tough to get a loan today.
Before the arrival of the Credit Union, people who were from the poor background or a working class background couldn't borrow from banks.
The universe of mortgage lending has gotten to the point where there is a place in it for everybody.