Matadors Bullish on Making Home Improvement Loans

When Los Angeles County officials approached area banks and credit unions to consider providing loans to homeowners for energy efficiency improvements, the overwhelming majority were not interested. Of all the financial institutions countywide only Matadors Community Credit Union agreed to make the loans for the Energy Upgrade California program. The Chatsworth lender is offering on a limited basis loans that carry an interest rate as low as 2 percent. “For Matadors to step up speaks a lot about them,” said Howard Choy, general manager of the Office of Sustainability for Los Angeles County. In fairness to the non-participating institutions, Energy Upgrade California is a new program that started in March 2011, and banks and credit unions were approached just a few months after the home loan program had been rolled out. “Until this becomes a really mature market with a streamlined process and predictability the big money will not jump into it,” Choy said. “It is too small.” The loans will pay for such improvements as window and wall insulation, repairing leaks in duct work, low flow showerheads and efficient heating and air conditioning units. Matadors Community opened in 1963 and has more than 11,000 members. The institution ended 2011 with $129.4 million in assets. The credit union benefits by making more loans and continuing a strategy of being a conservative lender, said Marnie Nemcoff, the vice president of marketing. “We pride ourselves on low delinquency rate and being out in the community,” Nemcoff said. “We are willing to do these small loans.” Matadors offers an unsecured loan up to $20,000 and a secured loan up to $50,000 for the energy efficient improvements. The unsecured loan carries the limited-time 2 percent interest rate. The interest is regularly 6.99 percent on a five-year loan and 8.99 percent on a 10-year loan. Energy Upgrade California in L.A. County is an alliance between county and city governments, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Co., and municipal and publicly-owned utilities. The program receives federal and state funds. The county is taking a valuable lesson away from its first go around with the banks: the most interest came from small, local lenders and that’s where the Energy Upgrade program needs to be promoted, Choy said. “That will be the focus when reaching out to other lenders,” he said. Bank of America Hires New Executive Bank of America appointed Raul A. Anaya as its market president for the Greater Los Angeles area. Anaya has worked for Bank of America for more than 20 years and in the Los Angeles area since 2005. As market president he will integrate business lines so that the bank can deliver a wider range of global financial services capabilities to more individuals and businesses; oversee corporate social responsibility activities including philanthropic giving, community development lending and investing, environmental initiatives, and diversity efforts. Anaya is also the Global Commercial Banking market executive for Greater Los Angeles. He will be overseeing a team that provides commercial banking services and products to companies with annual revenues from $50 million to more than $2 billion. Survey Taps into Minds of Affluent Angelinos Health care costs, saving for retirement and the overall economy were the top issues on the minds of the affluent in Los Angeles, according to a survey by Merrill Edge, the brokerage and investment service of Bank of America. The individuals polled, however, showed a greater tendency to budget their spending and create a solid plan to bring down debt. “Angelinos seemed to be committed to taking action to meeting those concerns,” said Karrie Movsesian, a financial solutions advisor for Merrill Edge. The poll surveyed 300 people in Los Angeles and San Francisco with investment assets of $50,000 to $250,000. In the short-term, the respondents said they would make adjustments to their lifestyle to improve their finances. Eighty percent of the L.A. residents said they were budgeting and 56 percent said they were focusing on reducing a mortgage or credit card debt. And 65 percent responding said they are focusing on saving for retirement, according to the survey. “Given the current climate they are expecting to retire later,” Movsesian said. Merrill Edge conducts the survey every six months, so the next one will take place just before the presidential election in November. Of the total 1,000 people polled nationally, 60 percent said the state of the economy has made them more interested in the election. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected]