Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi • 4

4 A Thursday, October 27, 1994 Hattlesburg AMERICAN NATION SALES SERVICE SINCE 1965, PASCALE'S FRAMING PHOTO rfcnriY OFFICE MACHINES, INC 1510 BROADWAY DRIVE, HATTIESBURG Color Biscfc 4 White Passport Photo Dry Mounting Luta Drivo In Window IRS crimps Instant refunds' 545-2657 arum urama HWV 49 AT MAMIE ST Tax preparers predicted the IRS action will crimp the growth in electronic returns. "It's what drives the electronic program. People file electronically because they want their refunds quicker," said Ozzie Wenich, vice president of the Kansas City-based Block Inc. Without IRS assurance that a refund is coming, lenders probably will be much more cautious about who they lend to, he said. Four financial institutions, who have formed the Electronic Filing Coalition of America, make about 90 percent of the loans.

They are: Beneficial National Bank of Wilmington, Greenwood Trust, a division of DeanWitter; Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh; and BankOne of Columbus, Ohio. turn and files it electronically. An electronic return usually results in a refund in two or three weeks. The IRS encourages electronic filing because it reduces errors and paperwork. But the agency is discouraging the refund-anticipation loans, which appeal to those who don't want to wait two or three weeks.

In those cases, the IRS sends electronic confirmation that a refund is expected. A bank, working with the electronic-filing service, makes the loan producing a "refund" a day or two after the return is filed. The actual refund eventually goes to the bank. Most companies that file electronic returns charge a fee in the $25 to $35 range, although some professional preparers file for free if they prepare the return. There is an additional cost, averaging between $29 and $34, for the loan.

The system has been working so well that con artists have been trying to milk it. During this year's filing season, the government prosecuted several cases in which multiple fraudulent claims for refunds were filed, many of them involving stolen Social Security numbers and the earned-income credit for low-income working families. Crosby Memorial Jiospital announces Dr.jialaM.Abdallah has Joined the CAQi Medical Staff for the practice ofTediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Abdallah joins CAQi from Ochsner Clinic in Slidell.

Ca. Dr. Abdalldh accepts Medicaid and most insurance policies. Office: Temporarily at 80 Goodyear Blvd. Crosby Memorial Mspital Thone: 798-1501.

HELP ELECT FORREST COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR He'll do whafs right I Fb WASHINGTON (AP) Fewer taxpayers will be able to get "instant refunds from tax preparers under changes designed to combat fraud in the IRS' electronic filing program. The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that, effective next year, it will stop issuing notices to tax preparers that their clients' refunds soon will be on the way. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said those notices make it too easy for those trying to cheat the system. The crooks take the money and run and the taxpayers and banks get burned," he said at a news conference. "So we're no longer going to tell the electronic filing operations whether a refund is likely to be coming.

The taxpayer will still get any refund they're due, but we won't be sending out that notification." This year, 13.5 million individuals and couples filed their returns through tax preparation services's computers and 10 million of them received tax refund anticipation loans a day or two later, according to the IRS. 1 The system works like this: A taxpayer fills out his or her return and takes it to a filing service to be transmitted via telephone to the IRS. Or, a professional preparer completes the re- Mortgage report finds lending bias WASHINGTON (AP) It's still a lot tougher for black ap-. plicants to get mortgage loans than it is for white applicants despite years of effort by lenders and regulators to reverse the trend. Lenders in 1993 turned down 34 percent of black mortgage applicants, 27.8 percent of American Indians and 25.1 percent of Hispanics, federal regulators said in a report Wednesday.

But the rejection rate for whites was only 15.3 percent and for Asians, 14.6 percent. The first time regulators reported the data, in 1990, tion rates were about the same 33.9 percent for blacks, 22.4 percent for American Indians, 21.4 percent for Hispanics, 14.4 percent for whites and 12.9 percent for Asians. "These disparities have developed over decades and it's going to take a long-term commitment by lending institutions to reverse past trends. That's what the data illustrates," said Allen Fishbein, general counsel of the Washington-based Center for Community Change, which provides advice and assistance to nonprofit community groups. As in past years, the disparity in rejection rates for whites and blacks in 1993 remained wide even when the data were adjusted for income.

For low-income applicants those with less than 80 percent of the median income in their areas the rejection rates were: blacks, 32.3 percent; Hispanics, 28.6 percent; American Indians, 27 percent; whites, 19.3 percent; and Asians, 16 percent. Rejection rates for applicants with more than 120 percent of the median income were: blacks, 18.2 percent; Hispanics, 17.1 percent; Asians, 13.7 percent; American Indians, 13.6 percent; and whites, 7.9 percent. Donald G. Ogilvie, executive vice president of the American Bankers Association, said the data were "at best a flawed measure of his industry's commitment to fair lending. Although the report groups applicants by income, it does not take into account such factors as applicants' previous indebtedness and credit records.

Homeowners due refunds, HUD says WASHINGTON (AP) Federal officials say millions of homeowners are due a share of $1.5 billion in refunds of overpayments on home-loan escrow accounts, but bankers who are holding the money say mass refunds are unlikely. The refunds will result from new government standards that bar lenders from holding back more money than necessary in escrow accounts on federally insured home mortgages. Bankers said Wednesday the number of homeowners getting refunds would be smaller than the government stated Bine many lenders already are operating under the new standards. Housing Secretary Henry Cis-neros said the new rule, effective April 27, 1995, would help lower the cost of home ownership for many Americans. The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated the new rule will save $477 million a year in closing costs.

Some individual home buyers could save as much as $250 in closing costs. I MILE EAST OF TURTLE CREEK MALL (ON HARDY STREET) SATURDAY FfWWW 10 AM -2 PM I Turtle Creek I I loymzx CREEPY CRAWLERS WORKSHOP All you need to make wiggly, jiggly insects. Molding Oven, QQ Plasti-Goop. Ages 6-up. Polygram I llf-IllUIr iimJ-JWtW I An intricate micro AAA An intricate micro Mattel MIGHTY MAX DOOM ZONES world with a figure.

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