Virginia Gov. Kaine Signs Three CU Bills in to Law

RICHMOND, Va. - Gov. Tom Kaine put his signature on three bills offered on behalf of Virginia's state-chartered credit unions and which were easily passed by the state Senate and House of Delegates. The three bills each were passed unanimously by the Senate and House of Delegates and are all effective July 1, 2006. SB 529 provides parity with federal credit unions by removing a cap on late fees. The Virginia Credit Union League said the current limit on late fees for state-chartered CUs is 5% of the payment due, and the league said that limit doesn't allow recovery of costs associated with smaller payments. According to the league, banks had already obtained legislative relief on this issue several years ago, and that put state-chartered credit unions at a disadvantage when consumers postponed paying credit unions debt in favor of paying debts with higher late fees. SB 530 provides that a credit union's notice to the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of its participation in a CUSO satisfies the requirement that notice be given of the establishment of an office at a shared service facility if the CUSO has already notified the Commissioner of the establishment of the shared service facility. SB 531 clarifies minor shareholder accounts protocol and provides extra protection to credit unions. It also authorizes CUs to take actions concerning share accounts of a minor on the order of the minor.