Credit Unions have Money to Lend—Just ask!
With all the craziness going on with the banks, fewer and fewer are providing mortgage and home-equity loans; but, as I understand it, credit unions still have plenty of money to lend to prospective homebuyers.
I actually saw a commercial from my own credit union recently and even though it was a little weird…its star is a penguin hand puppet…. It’s good to see they are trying to get the word out.
But where is everyone else?
I mean, I get it that unlike large banks, credit unions make loans primarily using deposited funds from their members. And that the averaging loan growth this year has risen significantly due mostly to the shrinking ranks of housing finance based financial institutions.
I mean, credit unions loan growth for the first six months of 2008 was fueled by 90% of total loan growth coming from mortgage lending according to the NCUA…. which is pretty cool if you ask me!
In a press release ACUMA Chairman John Reed, President/CEO of Maine Savings FCU said, “Most credit unions have plenty of liquidity and have for years made prudent loans at very competitive rates and terms and we’re not about to stop now. The fallout from delinquent home loans and subprime lending has caused many banks to hold onto their cash and lend much more conservatively than they had been. More people are turning to credit unions for loans they might have gone to a bank for a year ago.”
So there’s that!
But no one knows about his mother lode of mortgage money to be had! I mean, I was talking to a realtor friend and she was moaning that not only is she not selling any homes, but when she does, her clients can’t find the money.
So I let her in on the biggest secret that shouldn’t be a secret. So now she’s telling her realtor friends and hopefully they’re telling their friends. On the average, more real estate agents are referring their clients to credit unions, since there is a mutual responsibility to take good care of the prospective homeowner.
But where’s the national press? Where are the commercials?
I live in a big city with about 20 different credit unions and I see maybe two commercials on TV. Granted I don’t watch television 24/7, but shouldn’t credit unions be shouting this news from the rooftops? Shouldn’t they have lines out the door—the good kind—- with people looking for home loans?
They most certainly should! Bob Dorsa, the CEO of ACUMA recently said,
“The message from America’s Credit Unions is the fact that most consumers have no idea that they may qualify to join a credit union, which still has the ability and willingness to make loans to its members. “
So let’s tell them!
The fact remains that Credit Unions did not participate in the subprime lending crisis, and will not receive any bail out funds from the federal government. For credit unions, it’s business as usual, just as they have done for decades. The challenge is not to provide funds for housing finance, it is to tell the credit union story and educate realtors and American homeowners about the value that America’s Credit Unions bring to this situation.
So let’s tell the Mr. and Ms prospective homeowners that they most likely are qualified to join a credit union AND if they have decent credit they hand obtain a mortgage. Let’s tell everyone, come on, what are you waiting for?
But you can’t use a penguin sock-puppet, that idea is taken.