Lending

CHICAGO-The average credit union closes five mortgage loans per employee per month. But the most productive CUs close more than triple that number: 17-per month.

WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level on record for the fifth time in six weeks, with the benchmark 30-year rate declining to just 4.54% this week, according to Freddie Mac.

WASHINGTON-Community banks across the country are lobbying Congress against a proposal to add an increase in the member business loan cap for credit unions to the pending job bill, leaving the long-sought credit union initiative in increasing doubt.

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Pen Air FCU has signed with CUDL for indirect auto loan services.

WASHINGTON – Long-term mortgage rates slid again this week toward their lowest levels in more than five decades, with the average for the benchmark 30-year loan slipping to 4.56%, according to Freddie Mac.

DAYTON, Ohio – The Dayton City Commission yesterday approved a pilot program through with Citywide Development Corp. and Wright-Patt CU will leverage $2.1 million in federal grants obtained under last year’s federal stimulus bill to provide low-cost funding for the redevelopment of foreclosed homes and abandoned property.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – MidHudson Valley FCU is offering two new resources for college students, the Collegiate Funding Solutions Tool and the CU Student Choice private loan.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Capital Communications FCU has acquired two mortgage service companies based here.

COSTA MESA, Calif.-Strategic defaulters, who are defined as remaining delinquent for six months after the initial date of delinquency, continued as a high percentage of all mortgage delinquencies at 19% in the second quarter of 2009, according to updated findings from Experian and Oliver Wyman.

NEWARK, Del. – An immigrant couple from Kenya, the first Delaware recipients of a loan backed by last year’s stimulus bill, used a $250,000 loan from American Spirit FCU to open their own beauty supply shop.

WASHINGTON – Long-term mortgage rates remained at their lowest levels in five decades this week, according to Freddie Mac.

TORONTO, Canada – Alterna Savings has partnered with the City of Toronto to pilot a new “Youth Micro-Loan” program at the CU’s Bay Street Community Banking Centre.

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke put the onus squarely on banks to remedy small-business owners’ continuing complaints about the limited availability of credit.

LIVONIA, Mich.-The fact that General Motors is in talks with large financials to broaden the availability of loans for GM vehicles is a good sign for credit unions, contends Invest in America.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Credit unions are favoring NCUA's proposal to deregulate payday lending, but say the agency should drop proposed requirements that could make it tougher to qualify for the short-term, small amount loans.

MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a bill into law that seeks to create a legal framework for microfinance institutions, including credit unions.

NEW YORK – Fynanz, a provider of customized private student lending solutions, has added to its website at cuStudentLoans.org an entire section devoted to helping students and their families research and obtain valuable insight into college financing options.

UTICA, N.Y. – GPO FCU said it has contracted with Auto Financial Group for the company’s DrivingSense as both a direct and an indirect lending option.