Central Los Angeles : AT HOME

Would-be homeowners who have gotten the cold shoulder from bank loan officers should feel more at home in a new Crenshaw-district office of First Interstate Bank.

Seeking to carry out a 1993 pledge to lend $30 million in central Los Angeles, the bank has opened the Community Home Loan Center with the hope of persuading first-time buyers that purchasing a house is within their reach.

“We want to be a place that won’t intimidate people with mountains of paperwork and impersonal attitudes,” said Rod Gaines, First Interstate’s national manager of community mortgage programs. “Let’s face it: A lot of residents, particularly minorities, don’t get what they deserve.”

The center, at 3310 Slauson Ave., will offer financial counseling as well as more flexible loan terms than on conventional mortgages. Those shopping for a house “often get discouraged,” Gaines said. “We need to turn that around.”