These loans required UTOPIA to submit a construction plan for approval and, once approved, apply for reimbursement.

The largest loan approved since was $102 million to the Detroit Lions for Ford Field.

New loans have been approved instantly, rather than sent to endless committees, as at First Interstate.

Inaccuracies and blemishes on your credit report can hurt your chances of getting a loan approved.

But one big drawback, he said, was the full year it took to have his loan approved and financed - a frequent complaint about the program.

"H.U.D. relies on the lender to provide sufficient oversight to the dealer who has a direct interest in getting the loan approved," last year's report said.

By bribing all the officers in the loop, he manages to get the loan approved without even digging the well.

The $1.5 billion loan approved today is the second installment of a $3 billion in aid that the monetary fund proposed for Russia more than a year ago.

The Polish package would bring the loans approved by the I.M.F. since the beginning of the year to a total of $8.4 billion for Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

A recommendation from one of Mr. Safra's old family friends is often enough to get a loan approved.