HomeGold Files for Ch. 11

Subprime mortgage and home equity lender HomeGold Financial Inc., Columbia, S.C., and one of its subsidiaries, HomeGold Inc., have announced filings for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.HomeGold Financial said the filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina resulted from its inability to make repayments of an intercompany loan to another subsidiary, Carolina Investors Inc. "Investor interest in maintaining investments in notes and debentures issued by Carolina Investors Inc. recently declined significantly," HomeGold Financial said. "Because of these factors, Carolina Investors Inc. was unable to meet its payment obligations to all of its note and debenture holders and has not opened its offices for business since Friday, March 21, 2003." HomeGold can be found on the Web at http://www.homegold.com.