WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates fell again this week to their lowest levels since last November, with the average for the one-year ARM declining to its lowest mark on record, according to Freddie Mac.

BOSTON – The state Department of Banking told a credit union-owned mortgage lender in a new legal opinion its mortgage officers must obtain state licenses under the SAFE Act.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – St. Mary’s Bank has pledged to make $2.5 million in new funds available for low-income Home Loan Payment Relief, or HLPR mortgages, a subprime mortgage program developed by CUNA.

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Kinecta FCU said it is one of the first credit unions to offer a low down payment mortgage that will help borrowers buy one of the more than 1 million homes now owned by Fannie Mae through foreclosure.

BALTIMORE – A young woman, her brother and boyfriend pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent loan proceeds from as many as two dozen mid-Atlantic region credit unions.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Credit Union Journal is now accepting entries for its 2011 Best Practices Awards.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A man who threw cash out the window from his getaway car after robbing a Campus USA FCU branch Tuesday had hit the same branch in March and May.

PHILADELPHIA – American Heritage FCU selected 12 young members for its annual $1,000 college scholarships.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Service FCU raised $125,000 for its charitable arm, the Security Service Charitable Foundation, at its annual Charity Golf Classic.

MALVERN, Penn. – Akcelerant has agreed to sell its Mortgage Backed Securities software suite, Pool Maker / Pool Manager, to TAO Solutions, a Canadian provider of niche capital markets technology solutions.

CARMEL, Ind. – Allied Solutions said it is partnering with Lending Solutions for a new web-based collections system for credit unions on Allied’s CenterPoint site.

WOODBRIDGE, Va. – Belvoir FCU’s Financial Education Program introduced a “Reality Cash Course” to 30 students from The House – an organization focused on at-risk and disadvantaged youth.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Pacific Marine CU said it signed with Auto Expert to provide auto locating and buying services to its members.

CARSON CITY, Nev. – Greater Nevada CU has signed a five-year agreement to use The Learning Center learning management system and credit union e-learning course library from CU Training.

TULSA, Okla. – Tulsa Teachers CU named Tim Lyons, its chief financial officer, as president and CEO of the $1 billion credit union.

SAN DIEGO – San Diego County CU said same-day bill payments are now available through its online bill payment solution, Bill Payer Plus, one of the first financial institutions to offer the service.

PHOENIX – As a large wildfire rages in eastern Arizona near the New Mexico state line, no credit unions have been reported as destroyed or evacuated at press time.

WASHINGTON – Financial regulators agreed to postpone for two months final rules that would require financial institutions that package loans and sell them on the secondary market to hold some of the risk on their books – that is, retain some “skin in the game.”

WASHINGTON – Credit union lobbyists were licking their wounds yesterday after failing to get a delay in the Federal Reserve’s debit rule, but began work aimed at ensuring the exemption for credit unions and community banks is adequate.

WASHINGTON – Credit unions and banks turned their focus to the courts this afternoon after the Senate narrowly voted down a proposal that would have delayed cuts in debit fees being enacted by the Federal Reserve.