Press
NAFCU statement on the NCUA Board’s action on appraisals, regulatory review and Temporary Credit Union Corporate Stabilization Fund (TCCUSF) oversight budget
WASHINGTON, DC (December 11, 2014) – National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt welcomed the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board’s actions today on a final appraisal rule, a proposal for comment on regulatory review under the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (EGRPRA) and approval of a reduced oversight budget for theTemporary Credit Union Corporate Stabilization Fund (TCCUSF) for 2015.
“We are pleased the NCUA Board adopted changes to its appraisal rules, long sought by NAFCU, which will help to reduce credit unions’ regulatory burden in this area,” Hunt said of the board’s approval of the final appraisal rule.
As revised today, the appraisal rule will no longer require credit unions to retain copies of all appraisals and documentation related to first-lien mortgage loans. It also exempts a transaction from the appraisal requirement if the transaction involves no new money (except closing costs) or if there has been no material change in market conditions or the condition of the property itself. The NAFCU-supported changes are part of the association’s list of the “Dirty Dozen” regulations the association considers ripe for change or elimination. NAFCU has written NCUA multiple times to urge the changes.
Hunt also welcomed the NCUA Board’s issuance of a proposal for comment under EGRPRA, a regulatory review statute that doesn’t directly apply to NCUA. “We appreciate NCUA voluntarily participating in this review process and encourage the agency to find opportunities to chip away at unnecessary regulatory burden for credit unions wherever it can,” Hunt said.
“We thank Chairman Matz for the creation of the two working groups. We are pleased that NCUA listened to our recommendation to make the process easier for low-income credit unions to get supplemental capital.”
The board also today approved the 2015 budget funding oversight of the corporate stabilization fund. “NAFCU is pleased to see that the stabilization fund itself continues to perform well and that the oversight budget, which funds the TCCUSF’s operations and related litigation, continues to decrease,” said Hunt. “We appreciate Board Member McWatters’ efforts to provide increased transparency on the contracted services being paid out of the fund. However, we continue to urge greater transparency from NCUA regarding the legal costs being paid by credit unions related to the lawsuits associated with the corporate credit union losses.”
The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is the only national trade association that exclusively represents the interests of federally chartered credit unions before the federal government and the public.