'Put this on my NAR card, please'

From a National Association of Realtors brochure: a planned Web-based Realtors Federal Credit Union will offer "a full range of products and services for its members, including: deposit and financial services, personal and business savings (including tax accumulation accounts), personal and business checking, courtesy pay (overdraft protection), direct deposit, money market accounts, health savings accounts, CDs, IRAs, loans, personal unsecured, commission advance, open lines of credit, new & used vehicle loans/leases, new Realtor start-up (up to $50,000), home equity loans, first mortgage (to members only), business and investment property loans, Realtor-branded debit cards with rewards program, links to NAR products and Realtor benefits publications, business payroll."

The brochure also notes, "No, it's not a bank." Credit unions have a select group of participants -- in this case Realtors, Realtor association staff and their families. (Read more here about the proposal.) This emphasized distinction from banks is to be expected, as NAR has aggressively lobbied to keep federally chartered banking entities from providing real estate brokerage services. If approved, the Realtors credit union would be a wholly independent member-owned legal entity.

There are already examples of other local credit unions established to serve Realtors.

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