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Fear isn’t as much of a factor Home equity loans are back on the rise, and bankers expect the trend to continue By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
After a half decade of big, yearly declines in home equity lending, growing numbers of homeowners
are using their homes as piggy banks again, and bankers expect their ability and desire to tap their equity to keep growing. Nationwide, it was a long, steady descent for this breed of lending:
INSIDE: A comparison between the number of underwater mortgages per quarter since late 2011. Page 20 New home equity loans and lines, plus new draws on lines of credit, dropped 17.5% in 2007, another 18.9% in 2008, 28.5% in 2009, 18.2% in 2010 and 17.1% in 2011, according to SMR Research Corp., a financial services market research firm
in Hackettstown, N.J. By 2011, the annual amount of home equity originations had declined threefold from its historic peak in 2006, said Stuart Feldstein, president of SMR. Now, home equity lending is growing locally and nationwide as rising home values mean more homeowners actually have equity
INSIDE No hassles Spitzer Auto Group is taking negotiating away from buying a car. Vice president Allison Spitzer, right, and the company have developed computer software that updates the purchase and leasing prices every day. PAGE 3
See FACTOR Page 20
Company is positive EMS+ is effective Lower swipe rate helps mobile card reader stand out By CHUCK SODER csoder@crain.com
Square. PayPal. Electronic Merchant Systems? The provider of payment processing services in Independence has released a device that lets people take credit cards on a smart phone or a tablet computer. The device puts Electronic Merchant Systems in competition with a roster of companies that have developed mobile card readers. But CEO Dan Neistadt says there’s plenty of room for one more. See EMS+ Page 19
MCKINLEY WILEY
Diamond Services owner JT Diamond, right, with his son, Greg. The elder Diamond said their business was saved from going bankrupt by movie companies.
STORIES STRAIGHT OUT OF HOLLYWOOD CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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A look at Electronic Merchant Systems’ mobile card reader.
Northeast Ohio businesses are getting superhero-size financial bumps from movies being shot in Cleveland
By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
J
T Diamond loves the movies. And not just the flickering images that dance across a screen in a darkened room. He likes the part where he sends movie companies invoices and they pay their bills promptly. “They basically saved me from going bankrupt,” said the owner See HOLLYWOOD Page 21
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SPECIAL SECTION
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Finding an effective global strategy can be puzzling to some companies ■ Pages 13-17 PLUS: MIXING WITH OTHER CULTURES ■ STAFFING ■ & MORE
Entire contents © 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 34, No. 18