The Bottom Line
Small business is important to Central Oregon, and to Mid Oregon. Find tips and resources for business, and information about Mid Oregon’s commercial services and business members.
When Times Are Tough We Can Help
In tough times, it’s more important than ever to develop and maintain good financial habits. Having a household budget and shedding high-rate credit card debt are two obvious things that could benefit most consumers. But figuring out where to start can be a daunting task—especially if you feel like you’re already in trouble. The thing to remember is that it’s never too late to ask for help from your credit union. When times are tough we can help.
Manage your mortgage
If you have an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) and are facing a rate adjustment, refinancing your home loan with Mid Oregon might be the break you need. Rates are very low today. If you qualify, you could:
• Refinance into a fixed-rate 30-year (or shorter-term) mortgage.
• Refinance into a new ARM that has terms better suited to your situation.
Even if you have a fixed-rate home loan, refinancing may free up some money you could use to:
• Pay down more expensive debt—credit card bills, for example.
• Build your emergency fund for unexpected expenses, such as car repairs or a new furnace.
Tap your home’s equity
A home equity line of credit can be a useful cushion if you’re not already overloaded with debt.
• You can set it up and never draw on it but have the comfort of knowing it’s there if needed.
• If you’re already tapped out, borrowing more is not the answer.
Cut credit card costs
Not all credit cards are created equal. Switch to a credit union credit card—they average more than two percentage points lower than bank credit card interest rates, and often have lower fees as well. For low-cost credit cards, we can help.
• Pay on time, no exceptions
• Whenever possible, pay the balance each month. When you have to stretch payments, pay in as few months as you can manage.
• Avoid cash advances—the interest rate on these is higher than on straight purchases.
Pass up payday loans
Payday lenders promise to help when you’re short on cash. You’ll get the money you need, but with interest rates from 300% to 1,000%. When times are tough, payday loans can make them tougher.
• See what it really costs to borrow from a payday lender, and
• Visit your credit union—we offer payday loan alternatives with fairer terms and lower interest rates, such as short-term signature loans and low-cost cash advances.
Use direct deposit
Direct deposit will help you to save automatically. You simply need to set it up to place a certain amount or a percentage into your checking account and another amount into your savings. With Mid Oregon’s state-of-the-art online banking, we can help you put your money where it will do you the most good. Direct Deposit gives you:
• One less thing to worry about; it’s the safest way to receive your money,
• An easier and more convenient way to contribute to IRAs (individual retirement accounts) and other savings vehicles, and
• More control over your money and your time—it’s predictable and dependable.
Steer clear of scams
Some scammers use negative economic news to scare investors into high-risk investments. They use investor fears to promote sketchy schemes with promises of high return and no risk that leave investors with nothing but empty wallets.
• Hang up on aggressive cold callers
• Delete unsolicited e-mails promoting investment opportunities.
Mid Oregon has an up-to-date resource to help protect you from scams and ID theft called Security & Fraud Center. Check back often to see the latest news and information.
As member-owned not-for-profit institutions, credit unions look out for their members’ best interests. Credit unions rates and fees can save their members hundreds of dollars annually. Don’t wait until you’re in deep trouble to ask for a financial checkup at your credit union. In fact, the earlier you ask for a review, the better the outcome can be.
Share Insurance Protects Your Money
Safeguarding your hard-earned money is vitally important. That’s why Mid Oregon Credit Union has federal share insurance, administered by an independent government agency, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) protects aggregate savings up to at least $250,000 in your checking accounts, high yield accounts, certificates, regular share savings accounts, and Save to Win accounts. We want you to know that your share insurance protects your money
Coverage For Retirement Accounts
The coverage for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Keoghs is also $250,000. Funds in traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are added together and insured in the aggregate to $250,000. A Keogh account is insured separately up to $250,000 as well. It’s important to note that share insurance doesn’t cover investment products such as mutual funds and annuities.
More Than $250,000 In Coverage?
Ways To Increase Covered Something else about share insurance: It separately insures individual and joint accounts. For example, say you have an individual account containing $250,000, and a joint account with your spouse containing $250,000. Each account is insured separately for a total coverage of $500,000.
Insurance Administered Through NCUA
So how do you know we’re federally insured? All federally insured 
credit unions–like Mid Oregon-must post the official NCUA insurance sign in their offices. As do other NCUSIF-insured credit unions, we abide by high standards of safety and soundness. Because of that, NCUSIF is a strong, well-capitalized fund.
So, rest assured, your money is safe. You can count on Mid Oregon Credit Union to take good care of it.
Answers To Today’s Mortgage Questions
Mid Oregon’s Matt Mitchell Shares Perspective
Today’s home loan environment is anything but normal. In Central Oregon, our strong home sales and refinancing market has been subject to COVID-19 circumstances, economic uncertainty and job & income fluctuations. Mid Oregon Credit Union Mortgage Manager Matt Mitchell was asked about the impact on today’s lending environment. Below Matt provides answers to today’s mortgage questions.
Are Rates Going Up?
Rates continue to stay at historical lows; it is important to compare different lender’s rates. Lenders will fluctuate their rates on different products depending on their concentration and market demands for certain products. It is hard to say when rates will increase, but at some point in the future they will go up.
Is It Harder To Qualify For Home Loans?
Different Lenders and secondary market buyers have different requirements. We are seeing some approval tightening on Jumbo Loans and low member FICO credit scores paired with low down payment loans.
Are You Seeing a Lot of Forbearance Requests?
We are seeing some requests (Mortgage Payment Assistance) and as a credit union our position is aligned with helping our members. The whole industry has a much kinder and helping approach than it did during the recession. The process is much more borrower friendly and the response times are very fast. Most of the current plans do not require the borrower to become delinquent like they did during the recession.
What Advice Do You Have for Someone Not Able To Make Payments?
Contact your mortgage servicer right away and ask what programs they have available. Making the contact early gives the servicer time to assist you before the account becomes delinquent.
Remember that deferring payments does not stop the interest from adding on to the account. The deferred payments will change the whole structure of the loan and the interest will be due at payoff.
Is There a Lot of Unease In The Lending Market About Long-Term Impacts?
Uncertainty causes unease and there is plenty of uncertainty in the current economic market. Central Oregon has a couple of advantages: 1. The location is very desirable. 2. The inventory of houses on the market is limited. There may also be an increase in demand because people want to move out of big cities.
Nationally, Mortgage Applications Are Trending Up. Are You Seeing That Locally?
Yes, we have seen an increase in refinance applications. Obviously there has also been a decrease in purchase applications. Lenders are hiring additional staffing to keep up with the increased requests.
Are There Any Other Positive Or Negative Signs You Are Seeing On The Lending Side Of Things?
The increased demand & the virus have both put pressure on the appraisal industry. This has driven up appraisal prices and increased the time for delivery. On the positive side lenders have been working on their processes to become more streamlined electronically. This will have a positive impact by making things easier.