Among small community banks that focus mortgage loans, the top one has had to curtail portfolio lending to comply with regulations.
Among community
banks with less than $500 million in assets, Priority Bank is ranked as the top consumer originator.
That standing is based on the Fayetteville, Arkansas-based financial institution’s 2014 ratio of total consumer loans to overall assets: 86 percent.
The ranking was published by the Independent Community Bankers Association. ICBA members were surveyed for the report.
Almost all of Priority Bank’s lending involves mortgages.
But its business model changed last year thanks to new regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The CFPB’s Ability to Repay rule drove down portfolio lending by 93 percent last year at the bank.
Instead, almost all of last year’s production by Priority Bank was originated for sale.
Lawrenceburg Federal Bank in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, was ranked second by the ICBA.
After that was
Fairfield Federal Savings and Loan Association, First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Bath, and First Federal Savings and Loan Association.
