(A Project by the Credit Union Foundation, Inc.) Documentation of the Vermont Development Credit Union's Affordable Mortgage Lending Program, a unique program which combines home purchase counseling with non-mortgage loan products to assist potential homebuyers become ready for a mortgage. The program can serve as a model for other lenders interested in affordable homeownership for lower-income families.

Uses new CRA data to analyze lending by 50 largest small business lenders in the Chicago area. Ranks lenders by their tendency to lend to lower-income areas and smaller firms in such areas.

Analyzes patterns of small business lending in Milwaukee, WI and discovers significant discrepancies in such lending by race and income of neighborhood.

Utilizing extensive data analysis, this alert shows how community development banks have grown in size and financial strength while at the same time serving their community development mission.

Examines home lending patterns in the Benton Harbor-St. Joseph area. Identifies possible lending disparities and community credit needs. Highlights ways to improve access to affordable mortgage credit for low-and moderate-income community residents, particularly those in Benton Harbor. Includes recommendations for local planning and action.

This report analyzes how sectoral networks, a fairly recent innovation in microenterprise development in the United States, facilitate the establishment of formal and informal alliances between firms producing similar products or services.  The programs profiled are: Rural Ohio's Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) Food Ventures program; and the Chicago-based Women's Business Development Center's (WBDC) Apparel Roundtable. The report describes each program's technical assistance, mentorship, and networking services and how the programs affect job creation, increased sales, and improved entrepreneurial capacity.

Between 1990 and 1996 there was a large increase in the number of lower-income home buyers in the Chicago region. This good news is tempered by the facts of where these households were able to purchase homes. Most of them bought in Chicago and suburban Cook County. Unless lower-income buyers have a choice of homes throughout the six-county region, they will not gain the full benefits of homeownership.

Analyzes job patterns in the Chicago Empowerment Zone (EZ), examining demographics of those who work in the EZ, the number of EZ jobs held by EZ residents, and the work locations of EZ residents. The report provides examples of efforts in Chicago and around the country aimed at linking neighborhood residents to nearby jobs and calls for increased attention to the barriers between jobs and residents in low-income urban areas.

Profiles model small business lending programs around the country that target modest-income communities. Examples include bank-community partnerships, specialized bank units, multibank efforts, government-administered programs, and CDFIs. The report also offers lessons for effectively reaching underserved markets.

This report uses public court files to document the loan terms, conditions, and litigation tactics of one of the largest payday lenders in Illinois. The findings are based on a sample of 444 debt collection cases filed against payday loan customers.