The real estate crisis, hitting across the country, has put 1 million homes in the hands of banks and credit unions with home loan delinquencies now topping 10%, CUNA Mutual Group's Jeff Post told Southeast CU conferees Thursday.

Addressing the inaugural convention of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions in Orlando, the insurer's president/CEO, forecast that "this isn't going to be a bounce-back economy" since there are "torpedoes in the water and difficult times ahead for credit unions."

But the CUs that use the current environment "to implement cost savings and collaborate to improve their performance will reap the benefits" when the economic downturn eases.

But quoting from statistics, some apparently drawn from CUNA Mutual data, Post provided three other bullet points:

o7.2 million mortgage loans are behind on payments

o18 million homes unoccupied out of 130 million

o25% of homeowners are "underwater" in the first quarter

Regarding CUNA Mutual's recent performance, but not mentioning specifics, he told the CU group the firm "took advantage of opportunities the bad economy presented over the past year putting some wind in our sails" and so "I feel our company is turning the corner, despite what's happening in the economy."

In a separate action at the conference, LSCU's president/CEO Patrick La Pine disclosed a $15,000 donation being made to Credit Union House on behalf of CUNA's retiring CEO Dan Mica to recognize his industry dedication.