Cash Pay Advance

Georgia’s banks have built up the nation’s heaviest concentration of loans to now-struggling home builders and real estate developers. That is putting several banks in the state — and perhaps significantly more if economic conditions deteriorate — at greater risk of failing or being pushed into takeovers by healthier banks, some people in the industry say. Even during the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, when thousands of banks and thrifts across the nation failed, Georgia banks were far less exposed to these higher-risk loans. Today, the banks have double the concentration of those loans, according to federal data on banks. As the easy terms of subprime loans fueled the housing boom, Georgia’s community banks loaded up on loans to home builders and developers who have since gone bust. Nine Georgia banks were among the top 25 banks on a list research firm SNL Financial published earlier this month based on their high “Texas ratios” — a measure used during the savings-and-loan meltdown in the 1980s to gauge increased risk of insolvency. Find Out More

No Tags