CURRENT Newsletter | 6 July 2021
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Headlines
- Important Changes to Virginia Foreclosure Law
- Summary of New Virginia Laws Effective July 1, 2021
- Turnkey Mortgage Solutions: Learn More about Our New Partnership with CUMA During a July 14 Webinar
- Financial Education Boot Camp July 20
- CULAC’s ‘$30 By The 30th’ Just Shy of Goal; Contributions Still Being Accepted
- #ilovemycreditunion Day Coming on July 30
- CUNA White Paper Details State of Small CUs
- Automated Teller Machine “Smash and Grab” Attacks on the Rise
News From Credit Unions
- Chartway Awards Directors’ Memorial Scholarship to Eight Student Members
- ABNB’s Melchers Among Those Being Honored by DCUC
- DCCU Named Best Virginia Credit Union by Forbes
- BayPort Credit Union Named One of Forbes’ Best-In-State Credit Unions 2021
Risk Management
Financial Services / Economy
- CUNA Releases Latest Economic Update
- Car Shoppers Have Fewer Choices While Taking On Larger Auto Loans
- Black Americans Still Face Massive Housing Barriers
- Mortgage Servicers Brace for Fallout as Covid Bailout Comes to an End
Headlines
Important Changes to Virginia Foreclosure Law
A new law that went into effect on July 1, 2021, makes dramatic changes to the procedure for conducting foreclosure sales in Virginia.
Under the new law, the notice of the foreclosure sale for owner-occupied residential real property will need to be mailed out at least 60 days before the foreclosure sale. Previously, the foreclosure notice needed to be mailed at least 14 days before the foreclosure sale. The notice period of at least 14 days remains in effect for real property that is not owner-occupied residential real property.
Summary of New Virginia Laws Effective July 1, 2021
View summary Note: This document is password-protected. Log into the League website to view it. Register here if you need a password.
This Legislative Summary is provided to members of the Virginia Credit Union League as a service to its members. It represents a summary only of legislation identified as relevant to many League members. It is not intended to be comprehensive or detailed enough for any member or other third party to rely upon it as legal advice and shall not be construed as providing such advice.
Members should consult their own legal counsel for their interpretation of the complete text of each bill or they may contact the League office for further direction.
NOTE: Unless noted otherwise in the summary for the bill, all legislation signed into law has an effective date of July 1, 2021.
Turnkey Mortgage Solutions: Learn More About Our Partnership with CUMA During July 14 Webinar
Looking for a turnkey, customizable mortgage solution for your credit union? Credit Union Mortgage Association (CUMA), your League's newest business partner, boasts a 40-year track record of providing best-in-class mortgage-related services to credit unions of all asset sizes, including origination, processing, underwriting, servicing, closing and secondary market access.
Join us for a July 14 webinar (at noon) to learn about CUMA and what they can help you do for your members!
Financial Education Boot Camp July 20
Looking to whip your credit union's financial education program into shape? Stumped on where to start? The Virginia Credit Union League's Financial Education Committee is here to get the program at your credit union into tip-top shape!
- Date: July 20, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Format: Virtual Workshop
- Cost: $20. $10 of each registration fee will be donated to support the good work of Feed More!
Whether you are new to providing financial education or consider yourself a pro, this low-cost, high-impact workshop is guaranteed to provide tools and tips you can use immediately at your credit union. Now, more than ever, financial education can demonstrate the Credit Union Difference -- building member loyalty and providing an important opportunity to serve your community.
Register early and attend for a chance to win special prizes!
CULAC’s ‘$30 By The 30th’ Just Shy of Goal; Contributions Still Being Accepted
CULAC reports that it raised $27,196 for our $30 by the 30th campaign, just shy of its $30,000 goal.
Numbers aside, the real success is that we have more resources to pour into electing a pro-credit union majority to the U.S. Congress in 2022.
If you forgot to contribute, it’s not too late! Click on the link below to do so and we’ll be sure to count your dollars toward the campaign’s total.
#ilovemycreditunion Day Slated for July 30
On July 30, the credit union movement will come together across the social media stratosphere to spread inspiring and authentic conversation about our credit unions and system using the common hashtag, #ilovemycreditunion.
We’d love for Virginia-based credit unions to join the effort!
CUNA White Paper Details State of Small CUs
CUNA’s Small Credit Union Committee published a comprehensive white paper Tuesday examining the key opportunities and challenges facing small credit unions. The State of Small Credit Unions Today outlines how cross-industry support can lead to greater collaboration at all asset levels and provides recommendations for the preservation of small credit unions nationwide.
“Small credit unions are serving members and communities in extraordinary ways and play a vital role in helping sustain the credit union movement,” said Greg Michlig, CUNA chief engagement officer. “As this paper demonstrates, for every challenge facing small credit unions, there is a solution that we can provide through system-wide collaboration.”
The paper builds on research from a 2001 Small Credit Union Committee report which served as a roadmap to preserve and strengthen the small credit union model.
Automated Teller Machine “Smash and Grab” Attacks on the Rise
Over the past year, financial intuitions -including credit unions across the country -have reported Automated Teller Machine (ATM) “smash and grab” crimes. These aggressive attacks are comprised of several common traits where the perpetrators typically use stolen heavy-duty trucks with chains or construction-type vehicles to rip apart the ATM and gain access to cash canisters.
These attacks cause financial loss and property damage in addition to impacting credit union operations and the communities they serve.
News From Credit Unions
Chartway Awards Directors’ Memorial Scholarship to Eight Student Members
Chartway is proud to announce that eight student members have been selected to each receive a $3,000 scholarship, totaling $24,000 in financial assistance.
The Directors’ Memorial Scholarship, an ongoing program created in 1989, has annually awarded scholarships to student members pursuing collegiate studies. Since its inception, the program has awarded nearly $350,000 to student members.
ABNB’s Melchers Among Those Being Honored by DCUC
The Defense Credit Union Council will honor its 2020 and 2021 Hall of Honor inductees at its Annual Conference next month. Among the honorees is Mary Ann Melchers (ABNB FCU), a longtime board member and chairman.
The DCUC said its Hall of Honor was established in 2000 as a means of recognizing those individuals whose exceptional contributions over the years have made a significant difference to DCUC and the defense credit union community.
DCCU Named Best Virginia Credit Union by Forbes
For the third year in a row, DuPont Community Credit Union (DCCU) has been ranked as the top Virginia credit union according to Forbes, who partnered with research firm Statista for their annual look at the Best Credit Unions in Each State.
BayPort Credit Union Named One of Forbes’ Best-In-State Credit Unions 2021
BayPort Credit Union is pleased to announce it has been named to Forbes’ annual list of America’s Best-In-State Credit Unions. BayPort is ranked #2 in this year’s listing, one of only five Virginia credit unions making the 2021 list. Up to ten credit unions in each state were awarded the Best-In-State designation.
Risk Management
CUs Reportedly Among Those Hit in Widespread Ransomware Attack
Some credit unions are reportedly among the companies and organizations hit by a hacker gang’s ransomware attack over the Fourth of July weekend that reportedly has locked up more than 1 million individual devices.
The hackers are reportedly demanding $70 million in Bitcoin to free all the devices simultaneously.
Not all the specific institutions that have been affected, including credit unions, have been identified. The White House said over the weekend it is in the process reaching out to victims of the wide-ranging ransomware outbreak that is reportedly centered on Miami-based Kaseya, an information technology company, which said fewer than 60 of its customers had been "directly affected" by the attack.
However, since many of Kaseya's customers are companies that manage internet services for other businesses, the number of victims is much larger than 60. NBC News reported that instead of locking an individual organization, as ransomware gangs usually do, the Russia-based cybergang believed to be behind the attack, REvil, this time locked each victim's computer as a standalone target, and initially asked $45,000 to unlock each specific one.
Learn more
Related: Kaseya Says Up to 1,500 Businesses Compromised in Massive Ransomware Attack
Related: Hackers demand $70 million to unlock businesses hit by sprawling ransomware attack
Financial Services / Economy
CUNA Releases Latest Economic Update
Will credit union portfolio quality continue to perform well? Learn what CUNA economists think about this and several other timely topics in the June edition of the CUNA Economic Update. You’ll also meet CUNA’s newest senior economist, Dawit Kebede.
Car Shoppers Have Fewer Choices While Taking On Larger Auto Loans
Buyers have responded to record high car prices by borrowing more heavily and making larger down payments.
From the fourth quarter to the second quarter, average new car prices rose 1.5% to $40,656, while used car prices rose 9.3% to $30,224, according to data released Thursday by Edmunds, a car-buying analytics company based in Santa Monica, Calif.
Buyers are putting down about 12% on new and used cars, rates that have risen over the past year.
To keep up with the steep increases in used cars, they’re borrowing more money for longer terms.
Lower interest rates have helped a little. They averaged 7.9% for used cars in the second quarter, down 30 basis points from a year earlier and 20 bps from the first quarter.
Black Americans Still Face Massive Housing Barriers
Black Americans continue to face greater financial and generational barriers to homeownership than white Americans, with a recent study finding that only 45.1% of Black Americans bought or own their home as of the first quarter of 2021 — against 73.8% of white Americans.
Per Redfin, 23% of white homeowners made no financial sacrifices to buy their first home, versus 14% of Black homeowners. Meanwhile, 30% of Black respondents took an extra job to afford their first home, versus 22% of white respondents, the study found.
When looking at financials, 21% percent of Black homeowners earned $150,000 or more when they bought their first home, versus 11% of white homeowners. And 58% of white homeowners earned less than $50,000 when they purchased their first home, versus just 34% of Black homeowners.
“These findings suggest the financial standard for becoming a homeowner is higher for Black people than white people, making it more difficult for Black Americans to buy homes,” said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist. “Homeownership is closely tied to the American ideal of freedom, and specifically financial freedom. The fact that Black buyers report earning more money and making more financial sacrifices to enter the homeowner class is one example of how difficult it is for Black people in this country to achieve the American dream.”
Mortgage Servicers Brace for Fallout as Covid Bailout Comes to an End
The nation’s mortgage servicers are gearing up for the biggest wave of delinquent loans since the subprime mortgage crisis, but this time they say they are ready.
The first wave of borrowers to enter the government’s coronavirus mortgage bailout program are entering their last possible quarter for relief, which means that come September they will either have to start paying, sell their homes or go into foreclosure.
Mortgage bailout programs, both government and private sector, launched at the start of the Covid pandemic. The government originally allowed borrowers to delay their monthly payments for up to a year. That was then extended to 18 months. Each quarter, borrowers must re-up.
An estimated 7.25 million borrowers have participated in forbearance programs at one point or another throughout the pandemic, representing 14% of all homeowners with mortgages, according to Black Knight Financial Services. About 72% of all participants have since left their plans, while 28%, or just more than 2 million, remain in active forbearance.
Related: CUNA’s LaBerge Talks Homeownership Gap at FHFA Listening Session
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