Lending

GERMANTOWN, Md. – Montgomery County Employees FCU announced yesterday it is now offering members a HarmonyLoan mortgage, which adjusts its interest rate at the member’s call.

MADISON, Wis. – Loan demand for credit unions declined again in February for the sixth month in a row and has fallen more than 2.2% over the past year, CUNA reported this morning. The unprecedented drop in lending comes as consumers continue to work to pay down record household debt, dampening loan demand for credit unions and banks alike, according to Bill Hampel, chief economist for CUNA. “Loans are down 1% for the (first two months of the) year. That’s a really, really weak performance,” said Hampel. Small growth in mortgage lending for February was countered by declines in lending for home equity, new and used autos, credit cards and personal credit. Noting that loan growth is typically slow the first few months of the year, Hampel predicted slack or negative growth for the next few months, before demand picks up around May. He predicted loan growth, which was negative 1.4% for last year–the worst performance in three decades-- to rise gradually and reach 4% to 5% for the year and household debt falls and the economy begins to grow.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — One small credit union has shared its strategy for boosting lending by more than a third.

SAN ANTONIO — Indirect lending has its fans and its critics. Count Security Service FCU among the fans.

PITTSBURGH — Citing what he sees as a broad reluctance of low-income designated CDFIs to embrace Small Dollar, Small Denomination lending (STS), Mark McCormick, CFO of ACBA FCU, and his team are undertaking a plan to reach out to a vast untapped membership market.

RALEIGH, N.C. — State Employees' Credit Union was a Top 10 lender in 2010, but it wasn't due to some sophisticated marketing strategy.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Although housing market declines have led to steep losses for many lenders, the $5.4 billion Star One Credit Union's 2010 lending growth was fueled largely by booking mortgages.

LIVE OAK, Texas — There's risk-based pricing, and then there's the risk-based relationship pricing model practiced by Randolph-Brooks FCU.

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Police CU has signed with California Reverse Mortgage Consultants to offer the company’s reverse mortgages.

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Kinecta FCU said yesterday it has expanded its mortgage offerings to include federally insured Federal Housing Authority loans.

WASHINGTON – Home loan rates rose this week for the second week in a row, but the average rate on the 30-year loan remained below 5%, according to Freddie Mac.

WARWICK, R.I. – Greenwood CU said it is cutting all loan rates for soldiers and sailors from the statutorily required 6% under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, to 2%.

ATLANTA – CRIF Lending Solutions rolled out a new loan and account origination platform that combines features of the APPRO and Teres lending systems together in a single solution.

WALL, N.J. – First Financial FCU is offering special financing on used cars during its second annual used car sale with Enterprise Used Car Sales next month at the credit union’s Neptune branch.

PLEASANT GAP, Penn. – Titan FCU said it signed with CUC Mortgage Corp. for mortgage banking services.

WASHINGTON – The FDIC proposed a rule this morning that will require borrowers to make a down payment of at least 20% on their mortgages in order for the mortgages to be exempt from new “Skin in the Game” rules on securitizations. The Skin in the Game rules, part of last year’s Dodd-Frank Financial Reform law, requires that lenders retain at least 5% of all loans to be sold on the secondary markets–ensuring they retain some “skin in the game.” The proposal, issued for public comment, offers a package of options tailored for business, auto, commercial real estate and home loans, which would be eligible for exemptions under certain conditions. Residential mortgage loans with a 20% down payment or those that have been guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac would be exempt from the 5% requirement. Five other federal regulators–but not NCUA–are expected to propose similar rules later this week. Still, credit unions would have to conform to the same rules as participants in the secondary markets. Bond issuers would be able to choose what form of risk retention to use. It presents four approaches, allowing lenders to keep 5% of every part of a security, known as a vertical slice; a 5% stake in the riskiest tranche, called a horizontal slice; a combination of the two; or a “representative sample” of loans from the pool. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are all expected to propose the same rules later this week.

BOCA RATON, Fla.-The best time to cross sell members a loan is when they are looking for one, pointed out one vendor that has a program that identifies when members are doing just that.

According to new research, on average consumers answered 60% of questions related to credit scores correctly, but most did not know who makes credit scores available, what a strong score is, and what's the financial cost of a poor score.

Some of the the findings from the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore credit score quiz.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – City officials and the Bay Area Climate Collaborative kicked off a regional promotion last week to induce more homeowners to buy solar energy panels, with low-cost financing to be provided by Technology CU.