only in the ham

Langford wants to threaten some local banks

Posted by Thomas Spencer -- The Birmingham News March 02, 2009 3:34 PM

The city should pull its money out of major banks, set up its own credit union or transfer its money into an existing credit union that is actively lending to potential homebuyers in Birmingham, Mayor Larry Langford told a committee of the City Council today.

Langford told council members he was working on a proposal to counter what he claims to be discrimination in lending, and he would provide details soon.

"Today, red-lining has been replaced by a new term: a credit score,"
Langford said. "We need to pull our money out of banks that won't lend in these communities and put them in a lending institution that will."