WILMINGTON, Del. – American Home Mortgage, the mortgage bank for dozens of credit unions, filed for bankruptcy yesterday, leaving hundreds of mortgages for credit union members unfunded. Two other mortgage lenders also said yesterday they were not accepting new applications, signs that the worst housing crunch in decades could be widening. American Home Mortgage, based in Melville, N.Y., and once the nation's 10th largest mortgage lender, said it fell victim to “extraordinary disruptions” that effectively cut off the funding it needed to make new loans. American Home acquired mortgage offices in more than 50 credit unions last year when it bought the mortgage operations of Irwin Financial. Also yesterday, Aegis Mortgage Corp. of Houston said it would not accept any more applications and said it could not meet all of its existing funding obligations. Cleveland-based National City Corp. also stopped taking applications for new loans and lines of credit in its wholesale home equity unit. American Home Mortgage filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Wilmington, Del. Its 40 biggest creditors include virtually all the major names of Wall Street. At the top of the list are Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MT. LAUREL, N.J. – Pennant Capital Management LLC, a private equity fund trying to scuttle the takeover of PHH Corp. and its credit union-leading mortgage operations, raised its stake in PHH to almost 9% as the vote to sell the company is approaching. The Chatham, N.J., investment firm opposes selling PHH to GE Capital, which would then sell PHH Mortgage to private equity giant Blackstone Group, saying a spin-off or sale of the mortgage operations would best benefit PHH shareholders. Despite the 13% premium offered by GE Capital, PHH shares have stayed mired around $26, or under the $31.50-a-share offer, indicating the market sees impediments to the GE Capital deal. PHH, already one of the leading mortgage banks for credit unions, acquired CUNA Mutual Group’s mortgage operations, which included relationships with more than 2,000 credit unions and a mortgage servicing portfolio of more than $13 billion.

BRIDGETON, Mo. - Jennifer Allemann, public relations specialist for Vantage Credit Union, is one of 10 finalists in People magazine's "America's Worst-to-Best Dressed" contest.

LEWISTON, Idaho - Valerie Guenther began working at Lewis Clark CU in 1978 as the manager's assistant when the credit union claimed less than $1 million in assets and was operating out of the manager's garage.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart has provided one early glimpse into how it will price products as it aggressively expands to offer financial services.

WASHINGTON - In a bid to spur the dwindling American savings rate, the non-partisan Aspen Institute proposed a child savings account last week with which the federal government would provide a $500 certificate to participating newborns that would provide long-term savings incentives.

HARRISBURG, Penn. - A Pennsylvania court has ruled that Advance America, the largest payday lender in the U.S., cannot offer its "Choice Line of Credit" to consumers in this state.

CALGARY, Alberta - World HIV/AIDS activist Stephen Lewis knew he was among kindred spirits at the World Council of Credit Union's conference here last week, and he spoke plainly about the value the organization and its partner groups were bringing to afflicted populations worldwide, especially in Africa.

The Summit Federal Credit Union, Rochester, N.Y., named Susan Malta senior member service manager, Tina Longwell Rochester business relationship account executive and Connie Scherrer branch manager for Clarence and North Buffalo.

VIENNA, Va. - With the opening of four new branches in Atlanta, Navy Federal Credit Union has found a way to grow its membership while sticking close to its military heritage.

'Credit Union' Can Be Omitted

Over the last five years branch networking has exploded. As more and more credit union branches are built, I've noticed one consistent flaw. Most credit unions are skipping the final, most critical step in opening a new or remodeled facility-educating their employees.

SEPTEMBER

BURLINGTON, Mass. - Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union (EasCorp) is piloting a new Consumer Deposit Capture (CDC) program that allows consumers and small businesses to electronically scan checks and send them to their credit unions for collection.

Credit Union Journal Subscribers can access all content from the print edition every Monday simultaneously with its publication at www.cujournal.com. Additional resources include:

PADUCAH, Ky. - Credit unions searching for new members or a stronger community image might fare better looking to their past instead of advice from a high-powered design team.

Fiserv To Acquire CheckFree For $4.4B

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger has signed into law a bill backed by the California CU League that modernizes the statutes pertaining to credit unions in the state.

CALGARY, Alberta - Noting declines in government funding sources at all levels, the World Council of Credit Unions will launch its first direct-mail fundraising campaign targeting consumers outside the credit union movement. The WOCCU board approved the strategy, slated to launch this fall, at its meeting prior to the start of the 2007 World Credit Union Conference here this week.

BURLINGTON, Mass. - Eastern Corporate FCU held an "e-tirement" party to celebrate the end of its paper check processing.