NATIONSBANK BOOSTS MINORITY LENDING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993                   TAG: 9304060045
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
NATIONSBANK BOOSTS MINORITY LENDING
NationsBank Corp. said Monday it has increased the amount of mortgage money it is lending to low-income and minority applicants in its Roanoke market.
In one of a series of reports to communities it serves, the fourth-largest U.S. banking company said the total value of its loans in the Roanoke market increased 25 percent to $21 million last year from 1991, while its denial rate declined from 10.1 percent to 8.1 percent.
Among minorities, NationsBank said, its Roanoke-area denial rate fell from 20.7 percent in 1991 to 19 percent last year. The denial rate in 1990, however, was 12.8 percent.
Loans to non-minority applicants fell to 6.3 percent last year from 8.4 percent in 1991 and 12.4 percent in 1990.
The loan denial rate for low-income applicants, defined as those earning less than 60 percent of the area's median income, dropped to 14.1 percent last year from 15.7 percent in 1991 and 22.8 percent in 1990.
NationsBank is the first of the major Virginia banks to make public the report on its 1992 loans. Banks are required to report annually to federal regulators their records of lending based on race and income. The reports often are counted as evidence of community service when banks apply for approval of mergers and acquisitions.
NationsBank's dollar volume of loans to all minorities rose 34 percent from 1990 through last year, said Lewis Nelson, senior vice president and district manager in Roanoke for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank.
In a report to Roanoke City Council on Monday, Nelson said NationsBank is "lending where the demand is greatest" as part of the company's goal of making $10 billion in community investment loans over 10 years.
In its first year of that program, the bank reported lending $2.2 billion, including $260.5 million in Virginia and $8.8 million in the Roanoke market.
Nelson said the bank has used census tracts to identify neighborhoods that the bank said "need more attention." Other strategies to increase community lending include surveys of leaders, questionnaires in banking centers, advertisements and community home-buyer classes that have been attended by 376 people.
NationsBank said it will hold a Community Education and Loan Day on May 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at High Street Baptist Church in Northwest Roanoke. The program is aimed at low- and moderate-income families, high school students, minority businesses and neighborhood housing organizations.
The biggest reason for denial of a loan application is unsatisfactory credit, said Rus Wadia, the bank's community investment coordinator in Roanoke.
The company said it is working with Total Action Against Poverty Housing Corp., the Consumer Credit Counseling Service and other banks on monthly home-buyer education programs. Its classes are designed to help people understand a credit report and how to apply for a loan and open a checking account.
In the Roanoke market, the bank made 75 percent of its loans for home mortgages, home improvement and student loans and 25 percent to businesses in low- to moderate-income areas.
Not only is low-income and minority lending required by law, "it's important that we feel it's the right thing to do," Nelson said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB