Office of Thrift Supervision

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FOR RELEASE at 10:30 A.M. EDT For further information
Thursday, April 13, 2000 Contact: Ella P. Allen
OTS 00-39 202/906-6924

OTS Releases March National CRA Ratings

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 13, 2000 -- The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) today issued savings associations' Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluation ratings that became available in March 2000.

Of the 22 institutions in the March report, 3 were rated Outstanding, 17 were rated Satisfactory, 1 was rated Needs-to-Improve, and 1 was rated Substantial Noncompliance.

The CRA requires financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of their local communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound lending practices. CRA performance is assessed as part of each financial institution's examination for compliance with non-discrimination and consumer laws and regulations. Each institution must make its rating available to the public upon request and is permitted to charge a nominal fee for a copy of its public CRA performance evaluation.

March 2000 CRA ratings by region:

  NE SE CEN MW W Total
Outstanding 2 0  0 0 1  3
Satisfactory 5 4  3 1 4 17
Needs to Improve 0 0  1 0 0  1
Substantial Noncompliance 0 0  0 1 0  1
Total 7 4  4 2 5 22

OTS' five regions and the states in each are as follows:

Northeast (NE) Southeast (SE) Central (CEN) Midwest (MW) West (W)
Connecticut Alabama Illinois Arkansas Alaska
Delaware Florida Indiana Colorado Arizona
Maine Georgia Kentucky Iowa California
Massachusetts Maryland Michigan Kansas Hawaii
New Jersey North Carolina Ohio Louisiana Guam
New Hampshire South Carolina Tennessee Minnesota Idaho
New York Virginia Wisconsin Mississippi Montana
Pennsylvania District of Columbia   Missouri Nevada
Rhode Island     Nebraska Oregon
West Virginia Puerto Rico   North Dakota Utah
Vermont Virgin Islands   South Dakota Washington
      New Mexico Wyoming
      Oklahoma  
      Texas  

In some cases, an institution may be examined by an OTS region other than the one that includes the state in which the institution is located, because of the institution’s corporate structure. Lists of institutions' CRA ratings are available to the public through the Records Management and Information Policy Division, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20552, or telephone (202) 906-5900. Copies of institutions' individual CRA performance evaluations are available directly from the institutions, through the OTS regional offices, or the OTS web site at www.ots.treas.gov.

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The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), an office of the U.S. Treasury, regulates and supervises the nation's thrift industry. OTS's mission is to ensure the safety and soundness of thrift institutions and to support their role as home mortgage lenders and providers of other community credit and financial services. For copies of news releases or other documents visit the OTS web page at www.ots.treas.gov.


                         OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION                          
                                                                                
                    CRA PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS FOR MAR-2000          
                                REGION NORTHEAST                                
                                                                                
  CRA Performance Evaluations prepared by the OTS for the savings associations listed below became publicly available during this reporting period.          
                                                                                
        NAME OF ASSOCIATION/                                                    
STATE   HOME OFFICE ADDRESS                     CRA RATING                      
-----   -------------------------------------   -------------------------       
                                                                                
  MA    NATICK FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK             SATISFACTORY                    
        PO BOX 388                                                              
        NATICK, MA - 01760                                                     
                                                                                
  NJ    SYNERGY FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK            SATISFACTORY                    
        310 NORTH AVENUE EAST                                                            
        CRAWFORD, NJ - 07016                                                
                                                                                
  NY    THE DIME SAVINGS BANK OF NY, FSB        OUTSTANDING                    
        589 5TH AVE FL 3                                                 
        NEW YORK, NY - 10017                                               
                                                                                
  NY    THE HOMESTEAD SAVINGS, FA               SATISFACTORY                    
        283 GENESEE ST                                                    
        UTICA, NY - 13501                                                
                                                                                
  PA    FIRST FS & LA OF BUCKS CO               OUTSTANDING                    
        118 MILL ST                                                             
        BRISTOL, PA - 19007                                                     
                                                                                
  PA    SOVEREIGN BANK                          SATISFACTORY                    
        PO BOX 19646                                                               
        READING, PA - 19612
		
  PA    WORKINGMENS BANK                        SATISFACTORY
        807 MIDDLE STREET
	PITTSBURGH, PA - 15212
		                                                   
                                                                                

CRA PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS FOR MAR-2000 REGION SOUTHEAST NAME OF ASSOCIATION/ STATE HOME OFFICE ADDRESS CRA RATING ----- ------------------------------------- ------------------------- FL FIRST ALLIANCE BANK SATISFACTORY P.O. BOX 551460 JACKONVILLE, FL - 33255 FL MANATEE RIVER COMMUNITY BANK SATISFACTORY 430 8TH AVE WEST PALMETTO, FL - 34221 NC NEW REPUBLIC SAVINGS BANK SATISFACTORY P O DRAWER 7868 ROCKY MOUNT, NC - 27804 VA CAPITAL ONE, F.S.B. SATISFACTORY P.O. BOX 1029 FALLS CHURCH, VA - 22042
CRA PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS FOR MAR-2000 REGION CENTRAL NAME OF ASSOCIATION/ STATE HOME OFFICE ADDRESS CRA RATING ----- ------------------------------------- ------------------------- IN UNION FEDERAL BANK OF INDIANAPOLIS SATISFACTORY PO BOX 6054 INDIANAPOLIS, IN - 46206 MI HOME FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK NEEDS TO IMPROVE 9108 WOODWARD AVE DETROIT, MI - 48202 OH BRAMBLE FS & LA SATISFACTORY 954 STATE ROUTE 28 MILFORD, OH - 45150 OH VILLAGE SAVINGS BANK, FSB SATISFACTORY 1265 S. MAIN STREET NORTH CANTON, OH - 44720
CRA PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS FOR MAR-2000 REGION MIDWEST NAME OF ASSOCIATION/ STATE HOME OFFICE ADDRESS CRA RATING ----- ------------------------------------- ------------------------- IA FIRST FEDERAL SB OF THE MIDWEST SATISFACTORY PO BOX 1307 STORM LAKE, IA - 50588 TX FIRST HEIGHTS BANK, A FSB SUBSTANTIAL NONCOMPLIANCE 2050 N. LOOP WEST, W STE 201 HOUSTON, TX - 77018
CRA PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS FOR MAR-2000 REGION WEST NAME OF ASSOCIATION/ STATE HOME OFFICE ADDRESS CRA RATING ----- ------------------------------------- ------------------------- CA FAMILY SAVINGS BANK, FSB OUTSTANDING 3683 CRENSHAW BLVD LOS ANGELES, CA - 90016 CA MALAGA BANK, SSB SATISFACTORY 2514 VIA TEJON PALOS VERDES PENINSULA, CA - 90274 CA WESTERN FINANCIAL SAVINGS BANK SATISFACTORY P. O. BOX 19581 IRVINE, CA - 92623 WA RAYMOND FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK SATISFACTORY PO BOX 271 RAYMOND, WA - 98577 WA YAKIMA FS & LA SATISFACTORY PO BOX 1526 YAKIMA, WA - 98907

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Created: Thursday, 4/13/2000