Tagged: Banking

The North Carolina Bankers Association says the number of bank robberies is down slightly since last year. The group met with law enforcement agencies yesterday to discuss how to reduce the crime rate. The association says there have been 113 robberies this year compared to 129 in 2011. Associate counsel Dawn Thompson says the group keeps track of crime trends to help law enforcement cut down on robberies.

There are neighborhoods in many urban areas across the country with empty, dilapidated houses. Chances are the down economy got the best of the owner resulting in foreclosure.  But in thousands of cases foreclosures have gone wrong like at a house on East Geer (gear) Street in Durham.   For years no one took responsibility for the defaulted mortgage.  That means, the foreclosure was not completed, the structure could not be sold, resulting in blight.  It’s called a “bank walk away.”

North Carolina officials are seeking answers from an Alabama-based bank that is offering payday loans in the state. Such short-term, high-interest loans are illegal in North Carolina. But Regions Bank, which has several branches here, is offering the loans online. Attorney General Roy Cooper says his office has written Regions Bank to see if any North Carolina customers have taken out the loans.

The annual American Mortgage Conference gets underway today in Raleigh. Bankers, regulators, and government officials will meet for 3 days to discuss ways to get the mortgage market moving again. Thad Woodard is president and CEO of the North Carolina Bankers Association. He says the system now is much more strictly regulated under the Dodd-Frank financial reform act.