AmSouth planning 5th Manatee branch

Banking Matters

The site of a former Denny's Restaurant has been purchased by AmSouth Bank for $2.2 million.

AmSouth Bank has purchased the Denny's at 5703 Manatee Ave. W., which closed down in February. It will be the bank's fifth Manatee County location and second branch on Manatee Avenue West. An opening date has not yet been set.

It also will become the second former Denny's Restaurant in Manatee County that AmSouth has turned into a bank-branch location. In 2003, AmSouth purchased its current bank branch at 4501 Cortez Road, which also was a shuttered Denny's location, for $1.2 million.

AmSouth's other Manatee locations are at 2100 Manatee Ave. W., 5455 Tara Blvd., 5009 State Road 64 and 8455 Tuttle Ave. off University Parkway.

Jerri Franz, senior vice president of public relations with AmSouth, confirmed that the property has been purchased for a future bank branch.

"It's a great site at a good intersection," Franz said. "We will hold onto it until we are ready to start branching again."

Four Denny's Restaurants have closed in Manatee County since 2002. One lone location remains at 610 Cortez Road.

Spanish statements

Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp. now offers bank statements in Spanish. Any retail customers with a Wachovia deposit account can sign up to receive bank statements and statement inserts in Spanish by calling (800) WACHOVIA and dialing option 7.

"Wachovia is proud to be the first major bank to offer statements in Spanish on all of its bank deposit accounts," said Jorge Moller, Wachovia's Hispanic-segment strategy manager. "Offering Spanish is another part of our total commitment to the Hispanic community."

Wachovia made the change after listening to what their Spanish-speaking customers wanted. The bank also offers Spanish-speaking customers a product bundle called Cuenta con Todo, which includes a free checking account, premium savings account, systematic CD saver and a foreign remittance card that works in more than 160 countries. A Spanish-language Web site, www.wachovia.com/espanol and a multilingual call network is also available.

Hotter than ever

Most U.S. banks haven't changed lending standards for home equity lines of credit even after authorities raised concerns about whether lenders were adequately weighing risks, according to a Federal Reserve survey released Monday.

Banking regulators in May worried that lenders had eased their standards for granting home equity lines of credit to consumers in a way that increased the risk of problem loans.

In many cases, "institutions' credit risk management practices for home equity lending have not kept pace with the product's rapid growth and easing of underwriting standards," the federal banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve, said in May.

The Fed survey of 57 U.S. banks found that "most domestic institutions indicated that they had not changed their lending standards or terms on home equity lines of credit" in response to regulators' concerns about these lines of credit.

A home equity line of credit lets a homeowner borrow against the value of his home. These credit lines have increased in popularity as home values have surged.

Only a few banks reported having tightened their credit standards for home equity lines of credit; only five said they are charging more for these credit lines.

In response to another question, many banks said that a new bankruptcy law - which makes it harder for consumers to erase their debts - had no effect on their loan policies for businesses and individuals. The law took effect Oct. 17.

Meanwhile, the survey said demand for home mortgages has weakened over the past three months. Economists believe the hot housing market will cool a bit as mortgage rates climb.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.