"My wife has been in the hospital, and we have to postpone our trip to my son's wedding in San Francisco by one day. How much will it cost?"

Baltimore's reemergence as a desirable place to live has spawned a new line of business for the $489 million-asset K Bank of Owings Mills, Md.: purchase-and-rehabilitation lending for individual investors.

Allied Capital Corp. said Monday the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has asked the Washington company for information on its activities and those of its Business Loan Express LLC "in connection with a criminal investigation."

Brooklyn Federal Bancorp Inc., a 118-year-old mutual thrift with two branches in Brooklyn, N.Y., and one on Long Island, plans to raise $25 million to $39 million by selling a 30% stake to investors.

Northwest Bancorp Inc. of Warren, Pa., announced Monday that it will fold its small Jamestown Savings Bank in upstate New York into its larger thrift, Northwest Savings Bank of Warren.

After seven years as a public company, KS Bancorp Inc. in Smithfield, N.C., is planning to deregister its stock and go private.

Rabobank International, thwar-ted in its attempt to buy one of the nation's largest Farm Credit System lenders, is taking another tack to raise its profile with farmers.

Score two for bankers and one for credit unions in the latest battles over fields of membership.

Like many community development banks, Native American Bank in Browning, Mont., relies heavily on deposits from corporations to support its mission - but rarely do they exceed the $100,000 covered by federal deposit insurance.

NEW ENGLAND

Sky Financial Group in Bowling Green, Ohio, is buying the $297 million-asset Belmont Bancorp of Bridgeport for $69.2 million.

Sometimes two problems add up to one solution.

A private investor group that includes a former chief executive of Nara Bancorp in Los Angeles plans to buy the $100 million-asset Innovative Bancorp in Oakland.

BOK Financial Corp. in Tulsa said Tuesday that it is buying the $152 million-asset Valley Commerce Bancorp Ltd. of Phoenix for $32 million in cash.

Franklin Bank Corp. of Houston, which has bought four Texas banking companies since early last year, announced a deal for a fifth on Tuesday. Its $58.3 million cash and stock deal for the $215 million-asset First National Bank of Athens, Tex., is expected to close in the second quarter.

In a city with dozens of retail banks, including some of the nation’s largest, Austin Bank of Chicago has found that some of its toughest competition has come from payday lenders.

The meeting was important for the students, 10 finance majors working for their MBAs.

Peoples Community Bancorp Inc. of West Chester, Ohio, has agreed to buy American State Corp., of Lawrenceburg, Ind., for about $7.7 million.