It's not uncommon for residences and even churches in the Hill District to install iron bars on their doors and windows, yet its leading financial institution stands visibly unguarded.

Dwelling House Savings & Loan's small office on Herron Avenue has been robbed many times at gunpoint, but there still are no extra security barriers between customers and employees. "That would send the message that we are afraid of the people we serve," said Robert L. Lavelle, the 93-year-old founder.

And that would not fit the institution's culture. Scriptures incorporated in annual reports mailed to depositors stress the Christian principles that have shaped the institution's mission to provide affordable mortgages for two generations of minority and low-income home buyers.

In the end, the criminals that threaten the future of one of only a dozen African-American thrift banks still operating in the country didn't come in the front door.

They got away with millions of dollars via electronic bank transfers, taking advantage of weaknesses in the bank's security measures and putting at risk the mission of a financial institution that has long tried to serve a community that other banks shied away from.

Pittsburgh's oldest minority financial institution is under a federal deadline to recover $3 million in reserve capital by Tuesday to replenish what was electronically stolen by an organized ring of cyber thieves who are now being pursued by local and federal law enforcement authorities.

"The board is doing everything in its power to make sure we maintain a minority institution in Pittsburgh," said John Haines, the newly appointed president of Dwelling House.

Pittsburgh city police and FBI authorities have confirmed they have open investigations involving electronic thefts at Dwelling House.

Bank officers say they have recovered about $1 million from 62 financial institutions that unknowingly processed the fraudulent automated clearing house transactions.

Automated clearing house transactions allow customers to deposit and withdraw funds from one financial institution to another using electronic checks. Such transactions are most commonly used for receiving Social Security and payroll deposits, and also are used to pay bills.

The institution has been the focus of scrutiny by federal regulators for at least five years. In that time, Dwelling House has been forced by the Office of Thrift Supervision to change top management, tighten up compliance policies regarding prisoner accounts, and work under the supervision of a local bank that could serve as its mentor.

Even before an audit earlier this year discovered the cyber theft, regulators had been unhappy with security procedures.

An OTS order on June 30, 2008, required that, by no later than Nov. 30, 2008, Dwelling House should "hire and retain a qualified individual who has demonstrated the ability to effectively manage a savings association in a safe and sound manner ... to serve as the association's president and chief executive officer."

The past few months have seen the firing of Robert M. Lavelle, the former president who worked there more than 40 years, and former controller Gonzelle Phillips. Robert M. Lavelle is the son of Robert R. Lavelle, the retired founder.

Neither Robert M. Lavelle nor Mr. Phillips has been accused of criminal wrongdoing, but both had apparently taken their eyes off the ball for an extended period of time while the bank's reserve capital -- $3 million -- vanished over a one-year period.

In addition to ordering that the former president and other top managers at Dwelling House be replaced, the OTS order prohibited the institution from granting them any form of severance or "golden parachute payments."

Neither Robert M. Lavelle nor Mr. Phillips could be reached for comment.

One of regulators' major concerns has been about Dwelling House's role in providing banking services to prison inmates.

The thrift has long been one of the few financial institutions in the nation that managed such accounts. However, regulators thought the bank was failing to properly monitor the accounts, and they suspected some were being used for money laundering and criminal activity.

Substantial deposits, which included income tax refunds, were being made into prisoner accounts, which at one point amounted to about 20 percent of all open accounts at Dwelling House.

Ultimately, federal authorities restricted the bank from opening new prisoner accounts and restricted all existing accounts to $25 maximum deposits.

Regulators prohibited any more automated clearing house transactions involving prison inmates, and also required Dwelling House three years ago to submit to a mentoring arrangement with executives at Dollar Bank.

"Federal authorities have been very clear about the need to have stricter compliance standards on prisoner accounts," said Jeff Morrow, a vice president at Dollar Bank who works closely with Dwelling House on compliance issues.

"Prisoner accounts are very rare," he said, adding that the fraud investigation now under way has nothing to do with prisoner accounts.

Meanwhile, the threat to the bank's future has come as a shock to many in the community who use its services and are invested in its goals of serving the underserved.

"Mr. Lavelle's firing was a shock to me because it's the only job I've ever known him to have," said Marlene Russell, who has a mortgage with Dwelling House. "The customers should not have been the last to know.

"We should not have had to read about this in the newspaper. If anything is going to change on June 30, I would hope we will be notified by the bank."

Dwelling House customers who support its social mission have rallied to rescue the bank, only to be told their deposits would make matters worse. More deposits would require Dwelling House to have even more capital reserves.

Instead, the bank has asked for money that could be used as capital, with no guarantee that it will be returned.

"I think the community is confused about what they can do to really help at this point, when the president of Dwelling House tells us to stop depositing money but to give them money that will not be insured," said Celeste Taylor, a secretary at the Black Political Empowerment Project, in a letter to Tim Stevens, chairman of the project.

Records at the Office of Thrift Supervision show that up to this point at least, Dwelling House had succeeded where many had failed.

In 1984, there were 79 thrifts in the country classified as minority owned, which includes African-American- as well as Hispanic- and Asian-owned thrifts. Today, there are only 21 left, and Dwelling House is one of only 12 African-American thrifts remaining.

During that 25-year period, the number of all thrifts declined by 75 percent, while the number of minority-owned thrifts declined by 73 percent, said Bill Ruberry, a spokesman for OTS.

If Dwelling House is to survive, Mr. Haines said officers were under pressure to collect anywhere from $1.5 million to $2 million of the stolen money by June 30. He said they were making steady progress.

While regulators are not required to give Dwelling House more time, if sufficient progress can be shown, they have the power to grant an extension before taking steps to shut down the bank.

"This is not regulators against Dwelling House," Mr. Haines said. "When you are in a regulated industry, you have to comply with regulations."