Lending

WASHINGTON – A group of credit unions whose mortgages were fraudulently sold by defunct U.S. Mortgage Corp/CU National Mortgage to Fannie Mae are lobbying Congress for return of their stolen funds, part of a $140 million fraud by the former owner of U.S. Mortgage.

SAN DIEGO — First American CREDCO has introduced a consumer reporting solution it claims helps financials perform a faster and more accurate risk analysis on mortgage loans.

McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates rose slightly this week, but just above decades-lows, according to Freddie Mac.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU, which invested $1.6 billion in state-backed loans to finance student lending, pledged another $25 million to the effort.

WASHINGTON – An executive with Randolph-Brooks FCU is expected to testify today for a bill that would open up the Small Business Administration lending process to greater participation for credit unions and other small lenders.

MADISON, Wis. — An end to the guaranteed student loan program will likely hurt a number of credit unions and cause them to re-evaluate their education lending practices. After passing that House of Representatives easily, a bill geared towards shuttering the $150-billion program and bringing all federal loans in-house is expected to sail through the Senate and be signed into law in short order.

McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates moved lower again this week, with the benchmark 30-year average remaining under 5% for the second week in a row, according to Freddie Mac.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Alliance CU will award $5,000 this weekend to the winner of its Ugly Car Contest, as determined by voters over Facebook.

WASHINGTON – The Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer lobby group financed by Self Help CU, issued a report yesterday indicating that fees earned from overdraft protection programs have become a lucrative profit center for credit unions and banks and urged Congress to enact new restrictions on the programs.

McLEAN, Va. – Average rates on 30-year mortgages fell below 5% for the first time in four months, but still remained above this year's record low, Freddie Mac said last week.

HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio – Wright-Patt CU has agreed to provide low-cost financing to allow middle-income residents to foreclosed homes here.

This week's special report offers a host of stories about lending, including: how one CU has expanded its lending by creating special indirect loan programs with local businesses, an exploration of whether the industry's growth in lending marketshare may come at a price down the road, auto lending success in Michigan and much more.

RALEIGH, N.C. — State Employees Credit Union here is lending its hand, and its money, in the struggle against foreclosure across the state.

MADISON, Wis. — A new credit card law designed to restrict certain predatory lending practices, and bankers' reactions to it, present an opportunity for credit unions.

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan credit unions, doing business in one of the toughest economies in the U.S., showed a surprising 8.5% increase in new auto loans in the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year.

WASHINGTON — With other financial institutions pulling back on lending, many analysts have been stressing this is an opportunity for CUs to gain marketshare. But is it possible that in the rush to gain share credit unions have made loans that other lenders rejected for good reason?

MADISON, Wis. — The current economic climate is only putting more pressure on credit union boards and management teams to have a clear, consistent philosophy toward collections. That includes integrating the function with other credit union departments, according to a new white paper issued by the CUNA Lending Council.