Loans

Benjamin Chiang nearly lost the chance to refinance his condominium when his lender discovered that many other people in the building were behind on their condo association dues. "It made me a little peeved that my loan depended on the credentials and behavior of my neighbors," said Chiang, who bought his Arlington, Va., home eight years ago. Condo owners share more than roofs and lobbies these days. They also share one another's financial burdens.

The Federal Reserve said Friday that it would launch in June a long-expected program to help thaw the market for commercial real estate mortgages. The program is an expansion of the central bank's Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF, which was implemented in March to help stimulate consumer lending -- including credit cards, auto loans and other instruments -- in response to the country's credit crisis. The TALF also includes support for student loans and small-business loans.

The Federal Reserve's latest quarterly survey of bank lending practices shows credit conditions are improving somewhat for business borrowers -- but not for consumers. About 40% of domestic banks reported tightening credit standards for commercial and industrial loans to business borrowers in the last few months, down from 65% in the January survey, the Fed said Monday.

What's $120 million between friends? Village Roadshow Pictures, which has owed that much to Warner Bros. for nearly a year on four films released in 2008, has repaid the studio after restructuring its $1.4-billion credit line. Amid last year's financial collapse, the Australian film financing company unexpectedly lost access to funds it had committed to use for a 50% stake in "Get Smart," "Gran Torino," "Nights in Rodanthe" and "Yes Man." It has been co-financing Warner movies for over a decade.

Debt-burdened Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is scrambling to refinance a $3.7-billion loan that could help put it back on a footing with the major Hollywood studios. The once major studio disclosed that it had hired investment banking firm Moelis & Co. to advise the company on efforts to restructure its heavy debt, which largely stems from a 2004 acquisition of the studio by an investor group. MGM is paying almost $300 million a year in interest and faces a payment of nearly $1 billion in June 2011.

First came the banks and insurance companies. Then the auto industry. Now, with California on the verge of financial collapse, state leaders are demanding an unprecedented federal rescue of their own. They say they need the Obama administration to step in and back billions of dollars in emergency loans. If Washington fails to do so, the state could start running out of cash in July and then would have to stop paying huge amounts of its bills.

General Motors Corp. said Friday that it had borrowed an additional $4 billion from the Treasury Department, meaning the automaker has now accepted $19.4 billion in loans from the U.S. government. GM started taking government money in December and said it intended to borrow $2.6 billion more by June 1 and an additional $9 billion after that. But in a regulatory filing Friday, GM said it needed $1.4 billion sooner than originally forecast.

When the owners of a $480-million seaside luxury resort said they needed more money to ensure it would open, they turned to Rancho Palos Verdes. The City Council last week unanimously agreed to give Terranea Resort what amounted to an $8-million loan by allowing Lowe Enterprises to defer payment of its hotel tax for several years. The vote came despite concerns from city staff members who said the loan was "not fiscally prudent."

Rising long-term interest rates are making it more expensive for home buyers, corporations and the U.S. government to borrow money, threatening to further stifle an already weak economy. In just the last two weeks, the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has risen to 5.6% from 4.9%, ending a boom in refinancing and working against a budding recovery in the housing market. Rates on corporate borrowing have also risen, making it more expensive for companies to expand.

The Energy Department said Tuesday that it would lend $5.9 billion to Ford Motor Co. and provide about $2.1 billion in loans to Nissan Motor Co. and Tesla Motors Inc., making the three automakers the first beneficiaries of a $25-billion fund to develop fuel-efficient vehicles. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the loan recipients at Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Dearborn, Mich.