Lending

Affinity Federal Credit Union has rolled out a 5/5 Adjustable Rate Mortgage it said provides members the best of both worlds-access to low rates with several protections built in.

For CUs to get their share of loans from rising new car sales, they must rethink how they approach new car lending.

Truliant FCU here has booked more than $70,000 in business loans after instituting a state-developed program to aid would-be entrepreneurs.

Don't just send the coffee mugs to the F & I team, get out of the office to solidify relationships with auto dealerships being swayed by an increasing number of captive and bank offers.

In the face of steep competition for auto loans, lenders and industry analysts weighed in with advice on what CUs can do to grab more of the lending business coming from the increase in new car sales.

With the number of U.S. college students near an all-time high, there continue to be opportunities in student lending for credit unions as a new school year approaches.

WEST JORDAN, Utah – Mountain America CU said it has saved its members almost $7 million in interest payments by refinancing, consolidating and otherwise eliminating high-interest debt by converting it to reasonable, low-interest loans in just the last four months.

WASHINGTON – Long-term mortgage rates declined this week to near all-time lows, following bond yields lower after gradually moving higher over the past month, according to Freddie Mac.

ALBANY, N.Y. – The credit union bid for exemption from a the state’s mortgage tax is shaping up as a major political battle, with the organization representing the state’s 600 cities and towns the latest to ask the state’s highest court to uphold the tax.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Alliance CU has combined the features of the fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable-rate mortgage into a 5/5 ARM.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University FCU said it is offering a $25,000 grant to a local entrepreneur as part of the start of its small business startUP Loan Fund.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – A Texas real estate broker was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday for allegedly defrauding credit unions, banks and investors out of $16 million in connection with the sale and leaseback of Jiffy Lubes and other automotive service companies in Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, and Wyoming.

SEATTLE – Roughly 400,000 fewer U.S. homeowners saw their mortgage fall into underwater status in the second quarter, according to new figures compiled by Zillow through its “Negative Equity Report.”

WASHINGTON – Fannie Mae is tightening its underwriting standards on adjustable rate mortgages, which accounted for just 4% of the GSE’s total loan purchases in the second quarter.

LAUREL, Md. – Tower FCU here reported it has now processed more than $70 million in mortgage refinancings as part of the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).

WASHINGTON – Mortgage application volume fell 7.4% for the week ending Aug. 17 with loan rates inching up but remaining near historic lows.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The announcement by NCUA that it had doubled the number of credit unions eligible for a low-income designation, which would allow, among other consequences, exceptions to the Member Business Loan cap, only affects approximately a quarter of the 1,001 CUs included under the expanded eligibility, according to a new analysis.

CorePlus FCU here has opened two branches specifically for making loans as a way to test the waters for expansion to areas where the CU does not currently have a presence.