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It seems like only yesterday there were two different kinds of banks: the ones that offered you a free toaster to open a bank account and the ones that didn't. Those weren't exactly the good old days-far from it-but at least life was simpler then.

That was before the era of the 'non-bank banks,' automatic teller machines or ATMs, and all the other bells and whistles we have today for better or worse. It was also the time when interest rates ran higher than 20 percent just to buy a home. Now, that starts to sound familiar. There are probably a few loan shark subprime mortgage lenders out there now who would feel at home charging unsuspecting borrowers that kind of interest and fees.

Today we are moving to a system where every lender in the country falls into one of two categories, and it's more sinister than whether or not they offer us appliances. If you make enough money, your bank offers to help you invest it in mutual funds. If you don't, the only interest your banker wants to talk about-usually by telephone, long distance-is the interest on your home equity loan.

Readers may be tired of this line, which I repeat in nearly every column and which is still true every time: we've always been about making the private market work in neighborhoods. Some lenders, and regulators, will say that charging higher rates in lower-income communities is necessary to account for increased risk. Wrong.

The increased risk argument is the same one they made back in the 1970s and we proved over and over again that community reinvestment works and can even pay a buck or two when done right. Of course, the bankers say, they aren't targeting neighborhoods but rather people with lower credit. But what if there are no lenders offering good prime-rate loans in lower-income communities?

The idea of a neighborhood with nothing but high-interest home loan outlets is hardly farfetched. CitiFinancial is one example. This sub prime lending arm of Citigroup has offices in 48 states. In recent meetings at the NTIC office, top regional and national staff from Citigroup have flat-out refused to even consider offering prime-rate loans at these offices. Customers who want prime-rate loans, these people say, can get them from our Citibank branches. Problem is, those are only located in 10 states and Washington, D.C. (notice they don't forget to serve the bureaucrats in Washington!)

It may come as no surprise that the CitiFinancial branches are typically located in the less affluent areas. It's a whole new kind of redlining. Typical for the new era, this redlining is much more complicated than the old variety. Today, loans are available, but they cost more for people who have less money.

All this is part of the reason we have been opposing the CitiFinancial-Associates merger and are laying plans for our next steps in the wake of the deal's approval. The deal creates the world's largest loan shark with billions and billions of dollars in capital. It also sets a precedent that the kind of geographic targeting of loan products they practice is acceptable.

We're not stopping here on the loan shark issue, either. As this issue goes to press, the state of Illinois is passing tough regulatory reforms and our county stop-the-foreclosure campaign goes on. The rest of the country is on the issue, too: Cleveland, Des Moines, Pittsburgh, and other cities are all in action against predatory mortgage lending.

The next move is to bait and hook the sharks-keep moving if you have already started and if not, look around the neighborhood, find out which sharks are active in your area, and start the campaign!