JANESVILLE, Wis. – The Chrysler shutdown may top the economic bad news but the $300 million Blackhawk Community Credit Union is girding for the worst in this already hard-hit General Motors town.
The credit union is preparing for the Dec. 23 closure of the GM Assembly Plant and perhaps four supplier firms.
The Janesville CU in November instituted a holiday halt on first mortgage foreclosures lasting through Jan. 9 and separately waived interest on restructured loans under its "C.A.R.E" program standing for "Credit Advance to Restructure and Educate."
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Despite the grim economic conditions impacting this southern Wisconsin city, Blackhawk "is doing very well so far with ROA at .61 but we are now putting on extra collection people in anticipation of higher delinquencies as the plant closes and the ripple effect takes place," said Bob Carmichael, president/CEO.
The temporary halt on foreclosures, started Nov. 29 is in line with similar Fannie Mae extensions, he said, and recognizes "that we needed to do something for our members to avoid the awful thing to happen–being forced to leave their homes during the holidays."
So far eight members have taken advantage of the foreclosure moratorium "and we're happy to see that," said Carmichael, noting that a primary goal is "simply bring in those impacted members so we can restructure their debt and get them the help they need before it is too late."
Delinquencies, which "have been higher than the average," jumped 20 basis points recently to 1.4%. That will likely increase to 1.6-1.7% with the GM plant shut down, he said.
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