Wachovia, SouthTrust Unveil Community Plan

Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., and SouthTrust Corp., Birmingham, Ala., have announced a $75 billion community plan for their proposed merger that calls for $15 billion in affordable mortgages as well as downpayment assistance and homebuyer education.The five-year plan is more than twice the size of the one made at the time of the merger of Wachovia and First Union in 2001, Wachovia said. In addition to the $15 billion for affordable mortgages (and $45 billion in small business loans, among other nonmortgage commitments), it calls for up to $5 billion in downpayment mortgage assistance and the provision of homeownership education to 10,000 homebuyers. The companies can be found online at http://www.wachovia.com and http://www.southtrust.com.