RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia House of Delegates' Commerce and Labor Committee failed to approve mortgage loan servicing legislation that the Virginia Credit Union League said could have had serious consequences for credit unions and their employees. Under Senate Bill 145, employees of mortgage loan servicing organizations – which could have included credit union employees – could have faced criminal charges for failing to post mortgage loan payments in a timely manner. The legislation was intended to target unscrupulous lenders who purposely delay the posting of payments as to cause a default on the payment terms of the loan agreement. An amendment offered to the bill exempted banks but failed to exempt credit unions and their employees. On March 2, the Virginia Credit Union League coordinated a call-in campaign urging all credit unions to call every member of the committee as well as the bill's sponsor, Sen. Creigh Deeds and ask them to provide CUs with the same exemption as banks. Deeds eventually withdrew the banks' exemption and restored parity. Delegate Kathy Byron later offered an amendment that would have exempted both banks and credit unions, but the amendment failed. Consideration of the legislation was postponed until the 2007 General Assembly session. -

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