CO-OPFinancial Services' credit union clients are now able to accesshousing finance services through LenderLive, a privately heldhousing finance firm based in Glendale, Colo.

CO-OP on Tuesday announced a partnership with LenderLive, whichhas over 400 primarily bank clients. The new service will becalled CO-OP Mortgage Solutions.

“Mortgage lending is a cornerstone product for credit unions,yet building the in-house capacity to support mortgage portfoliosand keeping up with complex regulatory mandates can be difficultfor many institutions,” said Stan Hollen, CEO ofCO-OP Financial Services.

“CO-OP Mortgage Solutions brings technology, expertise andavailability to credit unions needing a comprehensive andcost-effective mortgage offering to grow and retain membership,”Hollen said.

CO-OP made the partnership through its CO-OP Member Center, theFort Worth, Texas, call center service that already supports anumber of different types of credit union consumer lending,according to Mark Chatfield, CO-OP Member Center chief operatingofficer.

“We used to be more active in the mortgage space on ourown, but with all the changes that have come down in the last 36months we gradually moved out of it,” Chatfield explained. Thepartnership with LenderLive will allow credit unions access toservices tailored to meet all of their housing finance needs,Chatfield added.

Credit unions interested in completely outsourcing a housingfinance program will be able to do that, while credit unions whichwant help originating loans, underwriting them, closing them orselling and servicing them will be able to get help with each ofthose areas, Chatfield said.

He declined to estimate what the new service might cost,emphasizing that each credit union's circumstances and serviceswould differ.