Washington regulator urges credit unions to work with troubled borrowers

State Issues Covid-19 Washington Credit Union Consumer Finance

On April 6, the Washington Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Credit Unions issued guidance urging credit unions to assist borrowers with reduced ability to repay their debt obligations, including waiving fees, increasing credit card limits for creditworthy borrowers, restructuring commercial loans, offering payment and loan modifications, ensuring continuation of mortgage servicing, and refraining from reporting late payments to credit reporting agencies. The Division emphasized that it would not criticize credit union’s efforts to accommodate members in a safe and sound manner, even if this reduces capital and earnings.