BOSTON – Less than 72 hours after it liquidated Huron River Area CU, NCUA yesterday began to sell some of the failed Florida real estate loans made by the once $320 million Ann Arbor, Mich., credit union.
A package of $26 million of the more than $230 million of loans Huron River Area made in the Florida developments of Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres went on sale through Boston-based distressed loan broker DebtX. An NCUA official told The Credit Union Journal the DebtX package, comprised of about 100 home loans, is the first of as much as $440 million worth of loans the agency now holds from three credit unions and will be put on sale to test the market.
DebtX, which works with as many as 3,200 financial institutions, already has put on sale loans made by other lenders in the Florida developments. Kingsley Greenland, head of the distressed debt exchange, said the market for the loans is deep and liquid. "We have not run into a liquidity problem, but pricing is going to be an issue," he said, of the distressed Florida home loans. He said the hope is to get local or area financial institutions interested in the loans for their long-term potential.
Huron River Area, which reported losses of $60 million for the first three quarters of the year, last weekend was sold off to Detroit Edison CU, with the $485 million Detroit credit union acquiring the member accounts and seven branches of the failed credit union, and NCUA assuming the liabilities, mostly the failed Florida loans.
Credit unions and other parties that may be interested in bidding on the Huron River Area loans can do so by registering and being accredited by DebtX at their web site DebtX.com or by calling the company at 617-531-3400.
