®I)e Cljarlotte ^osit
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1997
7A
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Retiring Nationwide takes heat on redlining
debt will
really hurt
By John Seewer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLES ROSS
Your
Personal
Finance
I It’s not what you want to hear,
1)ut the best way to dig yourself
put from imder debt is to resolve
to pay until it hurts.
■ First, add up all your debts,
totaUing the combined required
payments per month. Next,
review your budget and deter
mine the maximum you can
afford to spend on debt pay
ments. Try to commit at least 25
percent of your net income to
paying down debt. Then take
steps to get a grip on your
spending habits.
If you are deeply in debt, it is
probably because you use your
charge accounts too much. So,
place a spending limit on your
self for a period of at least a cou
ple of years. Once you are out of
debt, don’t be too quick to
remove the limits you have set.
Establish priorities
; Once you’ve decided to get out
of debt, you need to devise a
strategy that will make your
payments worth the maximum
possible. Check yoim credit card
and charge account statements
carefiilly to determine the inter
est rates on each. Then try to
eliminate the accounts with the
highest rates first. Usually these
^yill be department store charges
which can run as high as 22 per
cent.
You could save thousands of
dollars if you pay more than the
monthly minimum on the high
er-interest accounts. You’ll get
them paid off quicker, which
reduces the length of time you
carry the interest charges.
If you can’t manage minimum
payments, get in touch with
creditors and negotiate a lower
payment amount, or perhaps a
reduced interest rate.
Refinance
Refinancing can be a good way
to start lowering your debt, and
there are a lot of options. One
choice is to refinance your mort
gage which can be a good idea
even if you have no other debt.
Transfer your high-rate credit
card balances to a lower rate
card or credit line.
One caution: avoid debt consol
idation loans whose interest
rates can be as high as forty per
cent. Use a low-rate home equity
loan to pay off your most expen
sive debts.
As a last resort, borrow from
your 401K savings to pay
offdebt. But with all these
strategies, keep one important
thing in mind: paying off one
loan with another only helps
reduce debt if you change your
spending habits. Otherwise you
may simply be running up more
debt.
Get help
'There are several good places
to turn for help in devising a
See RELIEVE on page 8A
^OUCH, INC,
COLUMBUS, Ohio
Nationwide Mutual Insurance
Co. is facing scrutiny from feder
al authorities and lawsuits in at
least seven states for allegedly
telling its agents to avoid insur
ing homeowners in minority
neighborhoods.
The Justice Department is
looking into whether the
nation’s sixth largest property
and casualty insurer violated
civil rights laws.
At least six Nationvride agents
have said they were told not to
do business in sections of cities
where minorities were in the
majority.
'Ihe lawsuits accuse the insur
er of refusing to write policies on
the basis of race or residence in
low-income areas. They were
filed in Ohio, Kentucky,
Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Maryland, Florida and
Coimecticut.
Nationwide spokesman John
Millen said Wednesday that
company executives have met
with Justice Department offi
cials about the complaints for
several months.
Millen said redhning is against
company policy. He said
Nationwide is working on a plan
to increase business in urban
neighborhoods, but would not
say whether it was in response
to the inquiries.
Justice Department
spokesman Lee Douglass would
not confirm or deny that the
agency is investigating
Nationwide.
The National Fair Housing
Alliance, a Washington-based
nonprofit agency, has been
investigating Nationwide’s
urban underwriting policies
since 1991.
'The group has found that peo
ple in white neighborhoods
received better coverage and
lower rates than homeowners in
black areas, said Shanna Smith,
the alliance's executive director.
“They wrote out zip codes
where agents weren't allowed to
pursue business,” Smith said.
“The company has policies that
deny coverage in African-
American and Latino neighbor
hoods.”
Three years ago, the alliance
filed complaints against
Nationvride, All-State Corp. and
State Farm Mutual Auto
Insurance Co. with the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
But it asked the Justice
Department in August to inves
tigate Nationvride after getting
little cooperation from the insur
er, Smith said.
“Nationwide has fought this
every step of the way,” she said.
Nationwide has fought the
housing organizations’ authority
to regulate insurers in discrimi
nation matters. The 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cindnnati ruled in 1995 against
a lawsuit the company filed that
attempted to limit the groups.
The court’s ruling upheld the
belief of housing advocates that
they have the authority to inves
tigate and regulate insurance
companies in matters involving
housing discrimination com
plaints.
Dave Farmer, senior vice pres
ident for the Alliance of
American Insurers, said the
number of complaints facing
Nationwide is relatively small.
The New York-based group rep
resents about 260 insurers.
“I don’t want to minimalize the
complaints, but an overwhelm
ing number of citizens of all
races are getting property insur
ance,” Farmer said.
He added that insurance rates
are heavily dictated by condition
and location.
Rare hair experience
PHOTO/CALVIN FERSUSON
Fred Jones (right) and son Raymond opened Salon Central in Freedom Village last year. The 10,000-square foot facility is a mall for
beauty professionals.
10,000-square
foot salon opens
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
There are malls and then
there are malls.
That’s the theory behind Fred
Jones’ Salon Central in
Freedom Village.
Jones and his son Raymond
operate the 10,000-square foot
mall for beauty professionals —
hairdressers, cosmetologists,
manicurists and skin care spe
cialists. 'There’s even a tanning
booth.
Jones, former owner of three
McDonald’s franchises in
Winston-Salem, brought the
idea to Charlotte in December
and hopes to open as many as
five more.
“Charlotte was a natural,”
said Jones. “There are more
hair stylists in the city of
Charlotte than any other city in
proximity to Winston-Salem.
“Charlotte is one of the fastest-
growing and most progressive
cities, business-wise, in the
country right now. And there
See SALON on page 8A
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Elaine Johnson retired from
the Center for Substance Abuse
Prevention.
Johnson,
who retired
from the cen
ter last
month, head
ed the U.S.
Dept. of
Health and
Human
Service
agency since
1988, where
she spent 20
years in the substance abuse
and mental health fields.
Johnson was CSAP’s only per
manent director since the
agency was established in 1986.
Stephania O’Neill has been
designated acting director until
a permanent director is appoint
ed.
•David Allen Willis has been
named banking officer of
Wachovia Bank of North
Carolina N.A.
Johnson
Willis
Greensboro.
He currently
serves as com
mercial real
estate bank
ing officer.
The Akron,
Ohio, native
joined
Wachovia in
1995. Willis
earned a bachelor’s degree in
accounting from N.C. State
University.
• Donnie Smith has been
appointed plant controller at
Philip Morris’ Cabarrus
Manufacturing Center.
Smith joined Philip Morris as
an accountant in Richmond, Va.
in 1985, where he hed supervi
sory and management positions.
He was transferred to Atlanta
in 1993,
where he
served as
regional sales
controller.
A native of
Rocky Mount,
Smith earned
a bachelor’s
degree in
business from
Smith UNC-Chapel
Hill and a
master’s in business adminis
tration finm UNC Charlotte.
• Guerdon Stuckey, assistant
to the president of the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Urban
League, has been elected to the
YWCA of the Central Carolinas
Advisory Board for the Support
Our Students Program.
Stuckey will serve a three-
year term and wfil be responsi
ble for looking at policy and pro
gram isseues
in relation to
the SOS pro
gram.
• Dorothy
Mann PhD
has been
named to the
board of direc
tors for Kaiser
Foundation
Health Plan
Inc. and
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.
Mann, who lives in Seattle,
has served as chair of the board
of trustees of Group Health
Cooperative, the nation’s largest
consumber-govemed integrated
health care organization with
more than 500,000 members in
Washington and northern
Stuckey
Idaho. She is a senior fellow in
the Institute for Public Policy
and Management, Graduate
School of
Public Affairs
at the
University of
Washington
at Seattle.
• Andrea
Hall has been
promoted to
operations
officer at
Wachovia
Bank of North
Carolina.
Hall joined Wachovia as an
operations manager trainee in
Winston-Salem. She is currently
serving as supervisor. Lockbox
Mailroom Operational Services
in Charlotte.
HaU is a graduate of Alabama
State University.
Mann
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