Corning Credit Union is responding to the Wilmington area’s home financing market by adding mortgage officers.

Most recently, Andrew Finch, now at CCU’s Leland branch, was trained as an inside mortgage originator.

“Our goal is to have a mortgage loan originator at each of our locations by the end of the year,” said North Carolina regional director Belinda Wilson.

The credit union, based in Corning, New York, has four branches in the local market: three in Wilmington and one in Leland. Locally, it has more than 18,000 members.

Mortgage business has been brisk for the credit union this year. As of mid-October, CCU has made $18.4 million in mortgage loans, according to Wilson.

She said that those mortgage loans are roughly half home purchases and half refinances.

Currently, CCU has one outside mortgage originator, Bill Scott, and is recruiting for another. As of mid-November, the credit union was in the process of bringing that person in, according to Scott. He said that the credit union’s active business development efforts have helped spur requests for mortgage loans of both kinds.

“A lot of those refinances are people I’ve been working with. They also come through referrals and from existing [CCU] members,” he said. Corning has recently expanded into lot loans. There’s an incentive for borrowers: If they take out a lot loan with CCU, the credit union will waive the processing fee for their construction loan, Scott said.

While its headquarters is several states away, CCU keeps a local focus on loans it makes in Wilmington. It uses local attorneys for mortgage loan closings and remains the contact for its mortgages.

“A big difference between us and bank and local mortgage brokers is that even if we sell the loan, we maintain the servicing on our loans, so the consumer/member will always make their payment to Corning Credit Union.
That makes a difference for many people,” Wilson said. CCU is “really investing in this market,” Wilson said.

In the recent past the credit union created her position to oversee what Wilson termed significant growth in the Wilmington area.