Meeting Members Halfway

BROOMALL, Penn. - Franklin Mint FCU here meets with its members who are past due on mortgages or home equity loans. If the member indicates he or she is having a payment shock issue with another lender, the credit union turns over the file to its mortgage originators.

"It might also come from our collection call on a late car loan payment," said Allan Stevens, VP-Senior Lending Officer with FMFCU. "We gather information on the members' mortgage and look into refinancing. We only have a handful of exotic or interest-only loans out of the thousands of mortgages on our books. If our members' bill pay has a payee that is a subprime lender, we are contacting those members to see if their loan is repricing or about to reprice, which we turn into an offer to assist with a fixed rate or an adjustable rate with a more appropriate payment."