Links in “Credit Unions”

The FCC is taking action to protect consumers from unwarranted robocalls and spam texts. An agency proposal would exempt certain financial fraud and health care alerts, but would otherwise require prior express consumer consent for non-emergency, auto-dialed, pre-recorded or artificial voice calls to wireless phone numbers and pre-recorded telemarketing calls to residential land lines numbers. [6/24/15]

According to a legal analysis prepared for the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS), the Administrative Procedures Act requires that the NCUA submit the calculations its uses to develop its overhead transfer rate (OTR) to public notice and comment. The OTR represents the percentage of funds the NCUA transfers from the NCUSIF to the agency’s operating budget each year to cover insurance-related expenses. [6/24/15]

Effective immediately, the NAFCU is opening its doors to federally-insured, state-chartered credit unions. The unanimous decision by the NAFCU Board is an effort to advocate on behalf of more credit unions and to strengthen the association’s impact on federal issues. [6/24/15]

This week we're throwing it back to our most popular blog post from last year. SARs are tricky things, but AffirmX Analyst Rachel Osborn has broken down the essential elements of a SAR into a step-by-step process in this timeless post. You don’t need to be Shakespeare to write a well-written SAR, but you do need to to put some thought into your words. Remember, this isn’t something you have to write in 50 (or 100 or 200) words or less—and you probably shouldn’t. [6/23/15]

According to a report just published by the CFPB, 90% of cosigners who apply to be released from their obligation on private student loans have those requests rejected.  IN addition, the CFPB found that most of the loan contracts put the loan in default when a cosigner dies or goes bankrupt, even if the loan is in good standing. [6/23/15]

Rather than allowing for a waiver process to obtain exceptions to NCUA’s Member Business Loan Rule’s strict underwriting requirements, the just-issued proposed revisions to Part 723 would allow individual credit union boards of directors to establish underwriting standards within generalized safety and soundness requirements. [6/23/15]

The CFPB has sent a letter to Google warning that debt-relief scammers may be targeting student borrowers through the company’s search engine when they search and use keywords, such as “student loan default.”  The CFPB sent similar letters to Bing, Facebook, and Yahoo. [6/23/15]

Five federal agencies, including the NCUA, have jointly issued a final rule that addresses flood insurance. While the rule changes are expansive, two key changes will require financial institutions with $1 billion or more in assets to escrow for flood insurance premiums and would exempt certain detached structures from the mandatory requirement to purchase flood insurance. The new provisions go into effect on January 1, 2016. [6/23/15]

In a letter to the CFPB, CUNA has asked for a clarification regarding a discrepancy in the TILA RESPA Small Entity Compliance Guide, which states that the integrated disclosure requirement does not apply to an entity that makes five or fewer mortgage loans in a calendar year. [6/22/15]

Fraud experts say that the move to EMV will reduce the amount of fraud from the use of fake plastic cards at point of sale terminals.  As a result, there is already a significant increase in “friendly fraud” where cardholders request charge backs for items purchased online, by telephone, or by mail order. [6/22/15]