BANKING/FINANCE : New Group to Sponsor Workshop for Minorities on First-Time Home Buying

A new banking group in Orange County will reach out to the community Saturday with its first public program--a workshop to help minorities learn more about buying and financing their first home.

Speakers and exhibitors in the program, sponsored by the Orange County Urban Bankers, will offer first-time home buyers advice on purchasing low- and moderately priced homes and finding loans.

“Minorities trying to buy their first homes often do not have the knowledge necessary to get into those homes,” said Thelma McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the year-old bankers group. “We’ll help them understand how to qualify for loans, how to package loan applications, how to read credit reports.”

The program runs from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Santa Ana’s Second Baptist Church, at McFadden Avenue and Raitt Street.

The bankers group, formed last year, is a chapter of the National Assn. of Urban Bankers and is only the fourth chapter in California. The local group consists of bank and thrift employees and others in the financial services industry.