Melissa Allison

At the same time the Senate Banking Committee is turning its attention to the scourge of abusive mortgage lending, a national housing activist group is targeting a major Chicago-area company,...

A bipartisan panel of state lawmakers took a major step Tuesday to crack down on companies that lure vulnerable consumers into home equity-backed loans that mix high interest rates with...

The unit of Bank of America Corp. that caters to people with poor credit histories became a much more prominent player in refinanced loans in Chicago's predominantly African-American neighborhoods in...

Plan your party now: Gov. George Ryan has declared next week--beginning April Fool's Day--"Community Banking Week" in Illinois. Launching "National Community Banking Month," the Illinois week was chosen by Andrea...

Chicago's prominent Pritzker family helped salvage a struggling savings and loan called Lyons Savings Bank in the 1980s. Under new management, one of Illinois' most troubled financial institutions got a...

ABN Amro was never the fastest, most aggressive bank acquirer in the Midwest, but it has been persistent. In Chicago, it consolidated the old LaSalle, Exchange National, Talman and other...

The last signs of Chicago's old St. Paul Federal Bank for Savings will disappear Monday, when they are replaced with the branch signs of Charter One Financial Inc., the Cleveland...

Top bank regulators acknowledged in Chicago last week that they were not pleased with some of the ways Associates First Capital Corp. treats its borrowers but were legally powerless to...

Illinois lawmakers and the governor seem to be tripping over each other to institute measures to curb so-called predatory lending. An increasingly volatile issue nationwide, predatory lending has been difficult...

Before you rush out for a new low-rate mortgage, you might want to take a peek at your credit history: Even if you pay bills promptly, you may find inaccurate...