Small biz gets no credit

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on July 22, 2009 at 2:08 pm

The good news: The National Small Business Association says the number of small-business owners who think the economy will grow in the next year has more than doubled since December. The bad news: The number jumped from 3 percent to 7 percent and many of the business who could use a financing boost likely can’t get one.

There was, however, an increase in the number of small-business owners who used a traditional bank loan in the last 12 months. While a positive indicator that bank loans are an option for some small businesses, this increase also reflects the fact that more businesses are turning to outside sources of financing as the difficult economy has forced them to use up business savings and earnings—making access to affordable capital all the more important.

SEE ALSO: A report from federal regulators that says almost 90 percent banks are tightening the loan underwriting standards.

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Tags: banking, commercial banking, economic indicators, entrepreneurship, financial regulation, lending, National Small Business Association, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, small business, small-business lending  

Newsflash: Loan mods stink

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on June 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm

More sobering news from the mortgage front: The OCC and OTS have released a report that chronicles the explosion in loan modifications early this year – up 55 percent from late 2008 – and gives us more evidence that those mods just don’t work well.

SEE ALSO: Our print edition cover story this week on foreclosures.

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Tags: banking, foreclosures, housing market, loan modifications, mortgages, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, subprime mortgages  

Word of the day: Recidivism

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on December 9, 2008 at 7:37 am

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says half the people who had their mortgages modified early this year have fallen behind again.

“I want to know why Dugan and others are surprised by 50 percent redefaults,” said one servicing manager that spoke with HousingWire. “We’d have told them to expect it, if they’d asked.”

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Tags: bailout, banking, mortgages, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, residential real estate