First Future Credit Union, San Diego, announced that credit union employees, volunteers and members raised nearly $220,000 to help credit union members that were affected by the wildfires in Southern California last fall. The first grants from CU Aid, the centralized disaster relief fundraising system activated during the fires by the NCUF and the California Credit Union League, were completed in the San Diego area. First Future Credit Union members Daniel and September Katje and Shirleen Miller both received grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to help begin their rebuilding efforts. The checks were presented by NCUF Chairman Mary Cunningham....

Service 1st Federal Credit Union, Danville, Pa., offered several different programs in honor of Credit Union Youth Week and the theme "Got Green? Grow It at Your Credit Union." One program was Service 1st FCUs Green Loan program. Incentives were offered to members who purchased a qualifying hybrid during the week. Any qualified hybrid loan purchased received a 1.00% loan rate discount on new or used hybrids. Another program was titled "Considering Hybrid Technology?" Service 1st FCU invited visitors to come learn about the benefits of purchasing a hybrid vehicle. Aubrey Alexander Toyota had cars on site at the Danville, Lewisburg, and Shamokin Dam offices and representatives were on hand to help visitors learn about and understand the latest hybrid technology and benefits. The final program was a Youth Savings Challenge. Service 1st FCU invited parents to bring in kids for Youth Week activities and to learn how small change can lead to both saving for the future and saving the environment....

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- NACUSO has redesigned its Web site and launched a new blog for discussion of regulatory alerts, peer to peer insights and other industry topics....

BRONX, N.Y. -- Fitz Octave did not let his visual impairment stop him from launching his own car repair shop....

MADISON, Wis. -- Middle-school students will find there's more to do on CUNA's online youth magazine Googolplex....

NORTHFIELD, N.J. -- When Audrey Gentile sends one of her board members an e-mail showing, say, loan portfolio performance, she opens up her Outlook program, attaches the Excel file and off it goes....

SAN FRANCISCO -- A new bundle of tools that Visa is calling Visa Risk Manager will help credit unions and other issuers better manage their card risk, according to the card brand....

HAWTHORNE, Calif. -- It's been nearly four years since FAA First Federal Credit Union expanded its membership to include the entire air transportation industry, and during that time, a few observations made it clear that members certainly had specific choices about accessibility....

BROOKFIELD, Wis. -- Internet banking vendor Checkfree, now part of Fiserv, wants CU members to save a few trees by using its service to receive and pay more of their bills....

INDIANAPOLIS -- FORUM Credit Union said it will work with members who are now unemployed following the shutdown of ATA Airlines earlier this month....

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Credit Union Foundation has awarded A+ Federal Credit Union the FOCUS Award....

ELKHART, Ind. -- INOVA Federal Credit Union will be converting its core processing to Open Solutions Inc.'s newest release....

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Passageways LLC is going uptown for its fourth-annual users' conference....

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Fairwinds Credit Union has been named a finalist for the Orlando Business Journal's 2008 Best Places to Work award....

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union filed a lawsuit last month accusing Lee Baker Jr., a prominent home builder here, his business associates and his wife, Pat Baker, a real estate agent, with fraud....

SAN DIEGO -- North Island Credit Union's go green commitment is making the Metropolitan Transit System's first commercial bus with a compressed natural gas and electric hybrid drive system stand out....

NEW YORK -- The findings of a recent Bankrate Inc. national poll showed that identity theft is high on the list concerns among Americans....

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Building on the 2006 launch of its business services program that included Small Business Administration loans, the $1.3 billion Tech CU has expanded its lineup to include digital bookkeeping, tax preparation and data storage....

MODESTO, Calif. -- Community Trust Credit Union recently received a $20,000 grant from the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation to support its financial literacy program for low-income youth in the East Palo Alto area....

SAN DIMAS, Calif. -- WesCorp announced a shift in its executive staff April 22, naming Jim Hayes chief financial officer and senior vice president, while promoting Tony Kitt to executive vice president of member services, creating a couple of new positions....

HOUSTON -- The graying elders managing Texas credit unions got an earful last week from three members of Generation Y, with one labeling the industry "boring" and another saying that those in charge of CUs are too content with the status quo....

WASHINGTON -- A key House panel took the first steps last week toward providing relief to financial institutions and individuals hurt by housing foreclosure crisis....

OMAHA, Neb. -- The $383 million Centris Federal Credit Union said it is optimistic that Kendall Hospitality LLC, a commercial development firm that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 8, will be able to put together a reorganization plan that will be satisfactory to the financial institution, which is the firm's creditor....

WASHINGTON -- After nearly two years at the helm of the Small Business Administration, on April 18 Steve Preston unexpectedly accepted the position of Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to SBA spokesman Mike Stamler....

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Credit Union League scored a significant legislative victory April 22 when the Golden State's Assembly unanimously passed AB 1779, which forces retailers and government to take responsibility for consumer data breaches, by a 75-0 bipartisan vote....

SAN DIEGO -- Broker-dealer giant LPL Financial Corp. quietly bought XCU Capital Corp., the credit union-owned broker dealer that served more than 30 credit unions, in August 2007....

SAN DIEGO -- Card-issuing credit unions must streamline their operations, cut costs and focus on opening more checking accounts to keep their overall card portfolios performing well in a down economy....

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- CO-OP Financial Services gave its member credit unions a bit fatter bottom line when it announced another big patronage dividend....

SAN FRANCISCO -- Members of the Credit Union Economics Group met with officials of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on April 14 and shared their views on issues and topics currently affecting credit unions....

ALBANY, N.Y. -- It was a team effort to assemble care packages for troops overseas for at Capital Communications Federal Credit Union as children who came to work with their parents and the local National Guard Members in Latham's 3rd battalion 142nd Aviation Regiment worked together to put together the packages....

CHICAGO -- Last week's news from United Airlines that soaring fuel costs and a half a billion dollar first quarter loss has forced the carrier to trim 1,100 jobs from its 55,000 employee base is a road Alliant Credit Union has been down before....

LAKE MARY, Fla. -- CFE Federal Credit Union has been presented the Cultural Diversity Award during the sixth annual Onyx Awards....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Andera said it has partnered with Harland Financial Solutions to offer the Rhode Island company's online account opening and funding solutions to HFS clients....

NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The Michigan Credit Union League is moving once again next month to help its own members and homeowners cope with the state's foreclosure crisis by holding a special MCUL Mortgage Lending Summit here May 3....

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- It remains to be seen whether Delta Community Credit Union or Wings Financial FCU will have the membership growth advantage should the merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines go through....

DURHAM, N.C. -- The $60 million Latino Community Credit Union has taken another step in favor of serving its primarily immigrant membership in the face of a negative economy by offering fixed-rate mortgages....

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Oregon Credit Unions have successfully led a campaign during the 2007 Oregon legislative session to implement a Financial Education Task Force and to secure funding for it through the Department of Education....

John Reed, ACUMA chairman and president for Maine Savings FCU, NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland and ACUMA President Bob Dorsa take a break from the timely and informative ACUMA Spring Conference in Nashville's Opryland Resort last week to pose for Credit Union Times' camera. See full coverage on pages 37-38....

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- One of New Mexico's largest state-chartered credit unions has expelled its supervisory committee chairman in an apparent attempt to end investigations into possible board impropriety and election irregularity....

CHICAGO -- Six credit union have come together to create a CUSO to help measure, detect and take advantage of member loyalty....

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. -- The $470 million Visterra Credit Union and $530 million Credit Union of Southern California created an industry stir April 18 with the latest announcement of a megamerger between equal partners....

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Gary B. Wolter, the uncontested dean of credit union league managers and a pioneering figure, is retiring as president/CEO of the Alabama Credit Union League by mid-summer of next year....

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- Security Identity Systems said two credit unions are joining the list of financial institutions offering the company's ID theft protection service to account holders....

DALLAS -- The Texas Credit Union League has turned to a former bank robber to help teach member credit unions to avoid becoming robbery victims....

WASHINGTON -- A resolution introduced by U.S. Representatives Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), and Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) urges government and private entities to do more to encourage financial literacy....

BEDFORD, Mass. -- Cybercrooks continue their focus on credit unions, according to a monthly report from a leading Internet security firm....

WASHINGTON -- Insurance companies should have the option of being regulated by one federal entity rather than on a state-by state basis, CUNA Mutual Group Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriter Alistair Shore told a congressional committee recently....

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Credit Union Times last week announced that Claude Marx has joined the publication as its new Washington, D.C., reporter....

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- One sign that CUSOs can be a viable solution for credit unions wanting to gain more muscle in an increasingly competitive marketplace recently came through NCUA's proposal to include two new services for the entities to offer....

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson recognized the importance of the alliances between credit unions, small businesses as the Small Business Administration celebrated National Small Business Week....

WASHINGTON -- While CUNA supports the proposed NCUA regulation expanding credit union service organization powers, the group expressed concern about expanding federal oversight of state-chartered CUSOs. NAFCU favors the business expansion but is undecided on the oversight change....

MEQUON, Wis. -- Mortgagebot is a provider of online mortgage-application technology for nearly 800 banks, thrifts and credit unions across the country, but the company wasn't satisfied that the online channel was doing everything it could have....

TUKWILA, Wash. -- Even as mortgage production has decreased 15% from last year due to the subprime meltdown, Prime Alliance Solutions Inc., the mortgage CUSO here, reported an increase of 20% in mortgage transactions from 2006 to 2007....

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Will the changes made by the Federal Housing Administration and Urban Development Agency cause more credit unions to become FHA lenders?...

WASHINGTON -- A new poll by the Associated Press and AOL Money & Finance offers little hope for a resurgence in the mortgage market as a growing majority say they won't buy a home anytime soon....

MT. PLEASANT, Pa. -- Default Research, a provider of foreclosure real estate data in South Florida has reported recently that the number of suits pending as a prelude to foreclosure proceedings in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach saw decreases of 10%, 6% and 3%, respectively. According to Default Research (www.defaultresearch.com). Broward was the hardest hit region in South Florida with 2.22% of homes entering the foreclosure process....

Consumer interest in reverse mortgages is growing, which is good news for the lenders underwriting the loans and for the brokers originating them but not for the seniors targeted or for the credit unions getting aggressively recruited to help market the product....

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Mortgage Builder Software Inc., a provider of end-to-end mortgage banking software, announced that First American Flood Data Services has integrated its flood certification process into Mortgage Builder's loan origination system, providing an instant response for a flood determination request....

DUBUQUE, Iowa -- Dupaco Community Credit Union was recognized by the Iowa Finance Authority as the No. 1 eastern Iowa-based FirstHome lender, and number six in the state, in the 2007 FirstHome program....

WASHINGTON -- Mortgage fraud continues to be of critical concern for both financial institutions and consumers, so BITS, a division of the Financial Services Roundtable, has developed Mortgage Fraud Prevention: An Education and Awareness Toolkit for Consumers to help financial institutions educate consumers about mortgage fraud and protect themselves against the most common schemes....

In her column of April 16 ["See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil"], Sarah Snell Cooke makes some broad assertions about the inevitably of data collection and executive compensation disclosure--two proposals that are contained in the NCUA's recently released Outreach Task Force report. Neither of these recommendations, in our opinion, is a fait accompli. Moreover, no compelling case has been made for their adoption, and there has been no demonstration as to how they would improve credit union safety and soundness or help credit union members....

Your statement that "Credit union executives don't work for private companies" (Credit Union Times, April 16, page 14 column) is as far from the truth as it can be. It is true that credit unions are nonprofit and that most if not all nonprofits' salaries for top executives are available to the general public....

I read in Credit Union Times (and other publications) that credit union net income was down in 2007. What concerns me is that any bonus dividends or loan interest rate refunds paid out during the year are not included in the bottom line figure. ...

Before I went off to college, my high school volleyball coach asked me to help him with try outs. A few days of drills and playing went by, and he told me, OK, I have two slots left and four girls. You pick. One of the girls was my best friend's sister....

"I have often thought something else was funny or phony about that election or that someone had been in cahoots. The fellow who won it, Joe Montoya, told the board only one week later than he couldn't make the commitment to serve on the board and then they put someone else in that seat, someone I think they wanted all along."...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Yes, Virginia, there is a recession, said Moody's Economy.com's Director of Macroeconomics Gus Faucher in an exclusive interview with Credit Union Times prior to his presentation at ACUMA's Annual Spring Conference here. The good news is that it will be short and mild, with gross domestic product picking up again in the latter part of the year....

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The liaison from the FHA to the credit union industry had a difficult turn before an audience of CU mortgage specialists here when she stumbled through a PowerPoint presentation and announced at the end, "I won't take any more questions" as more than a half-dozen hands were in the air....

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For those involved in the credit union mortgage business, foreclosures are sad but necessary if all attempts at workouts fail. Sometimes, it's just not possible to keep people in their homes, said CU officials here attending a breakout session on loss mitigation and foreclosure avoidance....

NEWBURG, Ind. -- During the Heritage Federal Credit Union 43rd annual meeting four members were elected to the board of directors...

LAS VEGAS -- Nevada Federal Credit Union has announced the results of its membership election for the board of directors for the upcoming year....

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Corporate Credit Union elected its board of directors during its annual meeting....

FORT WORTH, Texas -- First Class American Credit Union welcomed 275 members and their families to its 79th Annual Meeting....

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Some 128 members participate in Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union's 2008 annual meeting....

First Future Credit Union, San Diego, announced that credit union employees, volunteers and members raised nearly $220,000 to help credit union members that were affected by the wildfires in Southern California last fall. The first grants from CU Aid, the centralized disaster relief fundraising system activated during the fires by the NCUF and the California Credit Union League, were completed in the San Diego area. First Future Credit Union members Daniel and September Katje and Shirleen Miller both received grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to help begin their rebuilding efforts. The checks were presented by NCUF Chairman Mary Cunningham....

Service 1st Federal Credit Union, Danville, Pa., offered several different programs in honor of Credit Union Youth Week and the theme "Got Green? Grow It at Your Credit Union." One program was Service 1st FCUs Green Loan program. Incentives were offered to members who purchased a qualifying hybrid during the week. Any qualified hybrid loan purchased received a 1.00% loan rate discount on new or used hybrids. Another program was titled "Considering Hybrid Technology?" Service 1st FCU invited visitors to come learn about the benefits of purchasing a hybrid vehicle. Aubrey Alexander Toyota had cars on site at the Danville, Lewisburg, and Shamokin Dam offices and representatives were on hand to help visitors learn about and understand the latest hybrid technology and benefits. The final program was a Youth Savings Challenge. Service 1st FCU invited parents to bring in kids for Youth Week activities and to learn how small change can lead to both saving for the future and saving the environment....