Regulatory relief is necessary to help banks better serve customers in West Virginia communities, said Alan Brill, chairman of the West Virginia Bankers Association, in an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette Mail today. “Not a day passes that bankers across West Virginia aren’t stymied by ill-fitting government rules that some in Washington believe will help, but actually hinder bankers from meeting the needs of deserving customers,” he wrote.
Brill, who is president and CEO of Capon Valley Bank, Wardensville, W.Va., recounted ways in which he helped his customers earlier in his career. “Many of our younger customers began their family living arrangements in a mobile home, either on a purchased lot or on a lot carved out of family real estate,” he said. “They would improve the property with a well and septic system and repay the debt that they had incurred until they were in a financial position to sell the mobile home and construct a home. Under the current mortgage rules, our bank has practically had to cease mobile home lending, leaving many young families without the prospect of home ownership.”
He called on Congress to advance S. 1484, the ABA-advocated regulatory relief bill sponsored by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).
