Savings and Loan Association (S&L)
A type of financial institution that was originally created to accept savings from private investors and to provide home mortgage services for the public; typically private businesses, mutually owned by their customers that relied on a share-accumulation model whereby members committed to buying shares in the association and subsequently had the right to borrow against the value of those shares in order to purchase a home; as a result of deregulation in the late 20th century, they began to enter the business of commercial lending, trust services, nonmortgage consumer lending, and large-scale speculation, particularly in real estate.