Links in “Credit Unions”

They say there's an exception to every rule. In the case of the SAFE Act, there are actually two major exceptions to keep in mind. These exceptions can be your institution’s best friend or your compliance enemy. [12/2/14]

Many of the new faces in Congress previously served in their state legislatures where they became well-known to league staff members. Among others, the Virginia Credit Union League reports a strong relationship with newly-elected Representative Barbara Comstock and the Mountain West Credit Union Association reports a similar relationship with new Representative Ruben Gallego. [12/1/14]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have reversed their policies and will now allow consumers to repurchase their foreclosed homes at market value. In order to reduce the number of vacant properties and to stabilize home values and neighborhoods, the agencies will permit these repurchases even if consumers owe more than the current value of their homes. [12/1/14]

$3.6 million North Dade Community Development Federal Credit Union in Miami, FL, has been fined $300,000 for violations that federal regulators claim may have placed the entire U.S. financial system at risk. To put that number in perspective, that would be like a fine of about $130 billion for Wells Fargo. The fine came with a warning from federal officials that risky money services business customers are flocking to smaller financial institutions because big banks have increased scrutiny. [12/1/14]

Industry experts are predicting, among other things, more free credit score availability and expanded credit access due to loosening underwriting standards in 2015. [11/26/14]

A recent segment on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” followed a security expert who showed how easy it is for a hacker to infiltrate a retailer’s point-of-sale network. The expert noted that point-of-sale terminals connected to networks are often left unattended and that no one noticed when he paid more attention to the retailer’s computer network connection than to merchandise. The segment concluded that retailers have little incentive to take responsibility for data breaches when financial institutions are picking up the tab for the losses. [11/26/14]

Principal and interest on the NCUA Guaranteed Notes and other obligations of the Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund must be paid to the Treasury before NCUA can distribute any remaining funds to credit unions. Still, no additional assessments to credit unions are expected. [11/26/14]

Before you hold your next strategic planning meeting, take a look at how some of the industry’s leading credit unions plan for these key meetings. [11/25/14]

Richard Cordray has several concerns about how consumers are affected by electronic payment networks. Cordray stated that financial institutions need to be aggressively proactive in policing electronic payments to safeguard against abuses, such as automatic withdrawals made for payday lenders and for gym memberships. Cordray also identified a need for more transparency that will allow consumers to understand when deposited funds are available and when funds will be automatically withdrawn. [11/25/14]

Servicemembers are protected from mortgage foreclosure while on active duty and for up to one year following active duty and they must be provided with a disclosure, HUD-92070, to alert them to this protection. The disclosure requirement, which was due to expire Sunday, is being extended though the end of this year. [11/25/14]