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Credit Union Times

JULY 22, 2020 | VOL. 31 | NO. 14 | CUTIMES.COM

Must Reads

LOAN COMPETITION

Private Lending Ticks Up

Undeniable COVID-created inertia is driving the commercialreal estate market today, with innovative approaches surfacing toconsummate transactions.

The fear and anxiety, hope andfulfillment of dreams, and confusion and uncertainty being feltby society as a whole, are certainly impacting those investedin the commercial real estate lifecycle.

Sellers, buyers, lenders andborrowers all are experiencing the impact of the worldwidepandemic pause. It’s impossibleto escape.

On one hand, some sellersfear that the longer their properties are on the market, and asthe pandemic and recession-ary economy linger, values willdecline.

On the other hand, for manysellers who see the glass as halffull, they hope and envision values quickly will increase, as thepandemic wanes and the U.S.economy fully reopens.

Buyers want the economy toreopen quickly, yet they hope thestalled economy will give themleverage to negotiate lower pricing on transactions.

Borrowers hope they will beable to secure forbearances fromtheir lenders, but fear that thisrelief may be short-lived. If theeconomic impact lingers, evenwhen businesses fully reopen,many tenants – especially retailers selling to consumers – maystill be unable to pay Y15

FOCUSREPORT:ADVANCES

IN FINTECH

Using technology to bring members thebest possible banking experiences remotelyis critical in today’s socially-distancedworld. In this Focus Report, learn whytaking processes such as core conversionsvirtual may become more commonplace,even after the pandemic ends. Y6

COVID
Disrupts
Recruiting
Rhythms
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com

trange. Unimaginablyslow. Delayed. Surprising.That’s how some recruiters have describedCOVID’s impact on the currentand future state of credit unionexecutive recruitment.

“It is strange,” David Hilton,president of D. Hilton Associatesin The Woodlands,Texas, chuckled.

“We have over 50
searches going on
right now, which is
probably 10 more
than we normally
have. The prob-
lem is that we can
only do a search
to a certain point
and then we have
to stop because
the client wants to
meet the candi-
dates. They can’t
meet the candi-
dates in this kind of
situation. No one is comfortable
meeting and greeting, and tak-
ing their masks off and sitting in
a board room or conference room
in a hotel.”
Nick Hayes, founder of Smith &
Wilkinson in Scarborough, Maine,
said he sees the executive Y18
HIRING PRACTICES

HiltonHayes

FintechPartnershipsThey’re not ascritical as CUs maythink. Y11

Voice

Banking

Don’t discount itsimportance. Y8

he federal government wants OnPath

Federal Credit Unionto pay back more than

$12 million it received from the
Community Development Fi-
nancial Institutions program
that supported the credit union’s
mission to serve low-income
members, many of whom lost
their homes, businesses, cars
and livelihoods following Hur-
ricane Katrina.

An audit by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Treasury claimedOnPath’s former executives allegedly submitted invalid information when they applied for federalfunds. In addition to recommending OnPath repay millions ofdollars, the OIG also recommended the suspension or revocation of the credit union’s CDFIcertification.

The credit union, based in Harahan, La., a suburb of New Orleans,said the OIG’s conclusion that OnPath executives submitted invalidinformation is not supported bythe evidence. What’s more, thecredit union noted that the OIGreport did not find any instance ofmisuse, misappropriation or noncompliance of CDFI funds.