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.

Then she abruptly walked off the stage, leaving the facilitator and mortgage consultant Tracy Ashfield to soothe a bewildered audience.

Marian Louden represents the FHA's industry outreach group as liaison to trade associations. While she sought to deliver a message about the affinity of FHA's history with that of credit unions, saying the agency wanted to greatly expand its relationships with CUs, she stumbled through the reading of slides and paused frequently throughout. Given that FHA products have taken on a greater importance and more CUs now want to become FHA approved lenders, that message rang true with attendees. But Louden's inability to answer specific questions about programs left many attendees wondering why she was chosen to speak on the topic before ACUMA.