REPORT ON BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1917. COLEMAN C. VAUGHAN SECRETARY OF STATE BY AUTHORITY LANSING, MICHIGAN WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE LANSING To His Excellency, Albert E. Sleeper, Governor: SIR: In accordance with the requirements of Section 28 of Act 50 of the Public Acts of 1887, as amended, I have the honor of submitting herewith the twenty-second annual report of this department relating to building and loan associations of the state. There were seventy-two associations at the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1917, an increase of two during the year, the Monroe Building & Loan Association of Monroe, and the Manistique Building & Loan Association of Manistique. The Monroe Building & Loan Association did no business during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917. The Battle Creek Building & Loan Association which was closed by this department in the early part of 1915 is still in the process of liquidation. As stated in our last report, there was a suit brought by the stockholders to remove the conservator and have a receiver appointed. The circuit court of Calhoun county, on March 1, 1917, made an order appointing Geo. S. Barnes, receiver, of the association and relieving Walter S. Powers, conservator. This order required that a complete report of all the acts and proceedings be made to the court every thirty days and a copy thereof forwarded to the attorney general within five days thereafter. This is being done regularly. In the receiver's fifth report he calls attention to the fact that business in Battle Creek is improving on account of the cantonment, and that real estate is increasing in value; especially is this true of land located west of the city. A large portion of the property owned by the association is located some 5 or 6 miles west-Meadow Lawn Park and Level Park. This being true, it is hoped the stockholders will not lose as much as at first thought. The two associations, West Bay City Building & Loan & Savings Association of Bay City and the Peninsular Building & Loan of Grand Rapids, as reported last year, are in process of voluntary liquidation and have not been closed up. The following associations increased their capital stock during the fiscal year: Adrian Building & Loan, Adrian; American Building & Loan Association, Jackson; Industrial Building & Loan Association, Buchanan, and Petoskey Home Building, Petoskey. The Iron Building & Loan Association changed its name to Iron Savings & Loan Association and also increased its capital. The Alma Savings & Loan of Alma, and the Peoples Building & Loan of Saginaw, extended their corporate existence. As shown by the annual statements there have been built through the aid of the associations during the fiscal year, 2,151 new homes, an increase of 903 over last year. The total membership of the associations is 69,041, of which 46,931 are investors and 22,110 are borrowers. This shows a gain of 3,406 investing and 1,902 borrowing members. The gross assets for the year are $35,575,505.62, an increase of $4,281,995.87, or a gain or .1363 per cent. The contingent or reserve fund has increased from $464,408.06 to $532,434.55, or a gain of $68,026.49. The amount of real estate as reported is $972,260.59, or an increase of $109,402.25 over last year. The reserve fund is 54 per cent of the total amount of real estate. At the last session of the legislature a bill was passed amending certain sections of the law and also adding some new sections. Some of the more important changes and additions are: Authority to settle part of a loan by applying all the credit and cancelling the shares settled; Giving the department authority to move quickly in cases where associations appear to be in bad condition; Increasing contingent or reserve fund of associations which have heavy holdings of real estate; A franchise fee of $25.00 to be paid by each association which shall hereafter be incorporated, or hereafter renew its charter, or hereafter increase its authorized capital, then at the time of filing its first annual statement, to pay a franchise fee of one-half of one mill on each dollar of the capital stock actually paid in, and thereafter at the time of filing the annual statement the same rate to be figured on the increase each year; Authority to borrow money up to 20 per cent of the assets; To do business directly with minors; To invest surplus moneys in certain securities. With these changes in the law I see no reason why many thriving villages should not have an association. In the main, examinations show the associations to be managed in a conservative and careful manner and for the interests of their members. In the following pages will be found statistics of general interest and reports of the annual statements. Very respectfully, Coleman@raughan |