Three New York credit unions heavily laden with taxi medallion loans accounted for the bulk of losses among credit unions last year, according to an analysis by CU Times.

Melrose Credit Union, LOMTO Federal Credit Union and Progressive Credit Union together lost $423.3 million in 2017—more than double their $169.2 million in net losses in 2016.

The analysis of NCUA data shows the three accounted for only 0.2% of credit union loans as of Dec. 31, 2017, but they have had an outsized impact on the credit union movement's health.

Their losses accounted for 64% of the $665.3 million in losses reported by the 998 credit unions that lost money last year. Those losses were offset by the other 4,691 income-generating credit unions with a combined $11.2 billion in net income.

In 2016, the three generated $169.2 million in net losses, accounting for 50% of the losses among the 1,006 credit unions reporting losses. The losses increased among all three last year:

Melrose CU of Briarwood, N.Y. ($1.4 billion in assets, 21,279 members) lost $290.2 million in 2017 and $98.7 million in 2016.

LOMTO FCU, Woodside, N.Y. ($185.5 million in assets, 2,631 members) lost $51.2 million in 2017 and $18.4 million in 2016.

Progressive CU of New York ($485.9 million in assets, 3,075 members) lost $81.9 million in 2017 and $52.1 million in 2016.

Melrose CU and LOMTO were placed into conservatorship last year. Progressive CU is still operating independently.

“There are a few other credit unions with varying concentrations of medallion loans on their books, and others with participations,” said NCUA spokesman John Fairbanks.

Fairbanks declined to comment further.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union on Long Island ($7.9 billion in assets, 348,415 members) has lingering exposure to taxi medallions since its March 2016 acquisition of the Montauk Credit Union, which had gone into conservatorship the year before with $178 million in assets.

In December, Bethpage filed suit against New York's former “Taxi King” Gene Friedman and 12 taxi companies he managed for more than $18 million in defaulted medallion loans. Friedman's management firm and the taxicab companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier in 2017.

But Bethpage's exposure hardly matches that of Melrose CU and the other two.

Melrose alone piled up $280.8 million in loan loss provisions last year—more than double 2016's—and its delinquency rate was 33.2% on Dec. 31, up 451 basis points from a year earlier.

On Monday, the New York Post ran a news story about Melrose CU's collection efforts under the headline, “Credit union is driving cabbies to brink of suicide: advocate.”

The article mentions a taxi cab driver, medallion owner and Melrose CU member who hanged himself in his garage last week. Friends told the newspaper he was struggling financially and his medallion, which he once thought would help him retire, had now lost most of its value. Medallions had risen to a high of $1.3 million in 2011, but have sold for as low as $160,000 recently.

Many drivers blame the city for failing to regulate Uber and Lyft, which have flooded the city with cars, under-cutting those regulated under the medallion system, which was instituted in the 1930s to protect cabbies from unfair competition.

New York area members of Congress, which has also failed to regulate the Uber and Lyft, criticized Melrose CU last fall for not easing up on medallion owners who had defaulted on their loans.

The criticisms came as provisions for loan losses among Melrose CU, LOMTO FCU and Progressive CU peaked at $163.4 million in the three months that ended Sept. 30, 2017, when they accounted for 9.2% of the movement's loan loss provisions.

They were also high in the fourth quarter: $130 million, accounting for 7.2% of the provisions.

Net charge offs among the three were $305.7 million for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2017, accounting for 5.6% of all credit union net charge offs, and up from $240 million in 2016.

The delinquency rate of the remaining $2 billion in loans on their books was 28.5% on Dec. 31, 2017, up from 23.5% a year earlier.

Instant Insights /

Taxi Medallions Weigh Down Credit Unions

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