At many banks, the loan money still flows

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun-who-is-borrowing-apr12,0,5081127.story

Companies find some banks, willing able to lend

By Becky Yerak | Tribune reporter

April 12, 2009

Dione Reyes, president of Specialty Title Services Inc. in Schaumburg, had a shocking meeting last October.

" 'We want our money,' " she quoted the Fifth Third Bank representative as saying. "I was in complete shock."

The bank demanded that she pay off her six-figure loan in 60 days despite a record of making payments on time, Reyes said. snip

Faced with the possibility of going out of business, Reyes said she turned to Chicago-based Signature Bank, which she had learned about through friends. Today, Reyes predicts her real estate information, title insurance and settlement services business will survive the recession after Signature replaced her firm's credit line. snip

Total loans at Signature, which was founded in 2006, rose to $172.4 million by the end of 2008, up 14.8 percent since Sept. 30. The bank received no government money. It is ranked eighth among locally headquartered banks with the most loan growth over that period.