Business Beat

It’s almost impossible to tell whether this proposal from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will fly or not, but for the moment it sounds like good news to those struggling with mortgages.

The FDIC announced Wednesday that it is proposing that Congress authorize the Treasury Department to make loans to borrowers with unaffordable mortgages to pay down up to 20 percent of their principal.

The repayment and financing costs for these Home Ownership Preservation loans would be borne by mortgage investors and borrowers.

The agency that insures deposits up to $100,000 in U.S. banks and thrift institutions said the plan would be administratively simple, and will avoid unnecessary foreclosures to help stabilize mortgage and housing prices. In addition there is no cost to the government, it said. Find details.

The First National Bank of Long Island is celebrating its 80th birthday, and that is no small feat for a publicly traded bank headquartered here.

So many banks in that universe have been gobbled up by out-of-state banking institutions. North Fork Bank was the biggest of the independent banks based here to be taken over.

First National, originally known as the First National Bank of Glen Head, opened its doors on Oct. 1, 1927, two years before the Great Depression.

Local residents started the bank because farmers and small businesses in the area couldn’t get the big New York City banks to come out to the community to make loans. Today, the bank even has locations in Manhattan. And it plans to remain independent.
“We are feeling good about our prospects for the future,” says president and CEO Michael N. Vittorio. “... That would include remaining independent.”
-CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN