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.

An effort to leverage the buying power of gays and lesbians is leading to Long Island’s first gay-friendly business directory, to be launched Nov. 13.

The directory will have not just gay-owned businesses, but also gay-friendly companies, an idea from Robert Vitelli, director of development at the Long Island GLBT Community Center in Bay Shore, after he had enough of facing insensitive experiences “every day” as a consumer.

“If I’m going to spend my buying power somewhere, I want to spend it where they understand who I am,” Vitelli said. “If you want to chase the gay dollar, you have to recognize us.”

The venture, called Partners in Pride, is a new program under the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth nonprofit in Bay Shore. So far, several dozen businesses have signed up to be in the directory, but hundreds are expected to join in after word gets out. It requires membership fees of $175 to $2,500, but discounts will be given to those signing up by Nov. 7.

The launch party will be held 6-8 p.m. at the Four Food Studio in Melville.

Supporters see the directory as a marketing tool and business boost to gay-friendly companies.

“We get so many phone calls: ‘Do you know of a gay-friendly doctor’ or a ‘gay electrician’ . . ., “ said David Kilmnick, executive director of Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth. “Too often people assume everyone is heterosexual.”

He remembers when he and his partner were applying for a mortgage with a loan officer: “Right in front of our faces, he said, ‘Oh, where’s your wife?’ “

---ELLEN YAN