Pub. 18 2021 Issue 2

George Maestas Named NMMFA Director of Housing Development The New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority recently announced that George Maestas has been selected as the new incoming Director of Housing Development, replacing the outgoing director, Shawn Colbert. George is currently the Assistant Director of Housing Development. Before joining the MFA, Maestas was employed as a lender […]

NMBA Associate Member Atkinson & Co. Joins CLA Albuquerque-based Atkinson & Co. joined national professional services firm CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) in December 2020. “We’re excited to continue to serve clients as CLA,” said Henry South, Atkinson & Co. managing partner. “We have always believed that serving our clients is an opportunity to know them better.

There are so many ways to violate TRID. Mastering the content requirements (knowing what to put where) is difficult for even the most seasoned compliance professional and is the source of numerous violations. Conquering the timing requirements (knowing when to give what) seems to be a much easier assignment, but it too causes numerous violations. When it comes to what information to include in disclosures and in which section, there are many gray areas, too much, in fact. However, the regulations are a lot more black and white when it comes to giving the disclosures.

Imagine accessing your monthly financial statement on a single responsive page. That page provides an intuitive view of your finances, segmented in a logical hierarchy. Perhaps an integrated video introduces the statement or walks you through the highlights, including spending categories and spikes.

Community banks that put current expected credit loss (CECL) standard work on the back burner during the pandemic are finding the need to bring it to the front burner once again and begin planning and implementation steps.

At the end of June 2021, the S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index released its most recent numbers and the results caused analysts to employ words such as “shocking” and “extraordinary,” and to describe the U.S. housing market as being on “an absolute tear.” The reason: home prices rose 14.6% in April from year-ago levels, a slight uptick from already robust 13.3% in March. This is the fastest rate of home price growth since data collection began in 1987, and a group of economists recently surveyed held a median estimate for a year-over-year jump of 14.7%.

If asked the meaning of “IP,” the expected results include intellectual property, internet protocol and for baseball fans, innings pitched. However, bankers quickly co-opted this acronym to mean “Instant Payments,” referencing the trend of immediate money movement. Most bankers are looking to this new capability to enhance consumer and business relationships and, simultaneously, compete with FinTech providers offering an expanded range of financial services.

After tapering off during the pandemic, the trend of credit unions buying taxpaying community banks is back – and credit unions are becoming more aggressive than ever in their pursuit of acquisition targets. The first half of 2021 has already seen two precedent-shattering deals: Jacksonville, Florida-based VyStar Credit Union’s acquisition of a $1.6 billion Georgia bank is by far the largest purchase of a bank purchase by a credit union to date. And more recently, the announcement by Iowa-based Green State Credit Union that it would simultaneously acquire not one but two community banks in the Midwest.

As part of my President’s Message, I want to mention how much I appreciate our current NMBA President, Jason Wyatt. Although elected for a one-year term, Jason “gladly” agreed to serve for 2-plus years as President due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has certainly served beyond the call of duty. I have very much come to appreciate Jason’s work ethic, sense of fairness and commitment to banking and – most importantly – his employees.

This will be my last article as the President of the NMBA for what unforeseeably ended up as a two-year term. Satirically, my tenure might best be articulated through the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”