Lending

A defaulted $1.5 million loan apparently made to non-members is firing up bankers' tax exemption talk.

Neal Barofsky, the special inspector general for the troubled asset relief program, has written a highly critical evaluation of the U.S. Treasury's administration of efforts meant to help home owners remain in their homes.

The $341 million Consumers Credit Union has become the latest to start offering its members mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA insured mortgages are popular with many home buyers because of their more favorable terms.

While Kentucky credit unions are performing higher than the national average in a number of areas, the cooperatives were challenged by CUNA Mutual Group to seek out more growth strategies.

Credit unions have benefited lower income and families especially, according to the Wisconsin Credit Union League.

A firm that claims to handle more than 3,000 small business loan applications each month is skeptical about banks participating in programs that aim to give creditworthy borrowers a second chance

The National Association of Realtors has announced that existing home sales were up 10% in September, even though sales economically distressed homes remained high.

Small businesses have another resource to turn to with a new site dedicated to them created by the Mid-America Credit Union Association, the trade group for credit unions in North and South Dakota.