The banking industry won a significant victory against the Farm Credit System (FCS) on January 19, 1999, when a US court of Appeals voided a Farm Credit Administration (FCA) regulation which authorized FCS institutions to lend to homebuyers who are not rural residents. In effect, FCS institutions are now restricted to making housing loans on owner-occupied homes located in rural communities. No longer can the FCS fund vacation homes, hunting lodges, investment properties, and rural weekend retreats for Big City fat cats. The court also barred farm credit banks from making short-term loans to non-farm rural businesses.