Prior to 1999, Superior CU closed very few first mortgages. Our mortgage portfolio growth was stagnant and we did not sell to the secondary market.

In 1999 Superior Credit Union hired experienced lender, Steve Oren, to develop a mortgage program for its members. Steve spear-headed the acquisition of mortgage software, hiring and training lending and processing staff, and obtaining approval to sell to the secondary market.

The Mortgage Center at Superior was founded in 2000 and began selling loans to FNMA in 2001. By 2002, Superior CU became the area’s leading mortgage lender despite competing with national financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and U.S. Bank.

When asked “how and why” this growth happened, Oren will tell you, “It’s all in the way we look at each loan. At Superior, we actively look for reasons to approve the loan, not reasons to deny it. We’re not going to make bad loans, but we will work hard to make things work for our members—and that’s the difference.”

The dramatic growth of the Mortgage Center also had substantial impact on the growth of the credit union. From the launch of the Mortgage Center at SCU, it took only seven years to triple the assets of the credit union (from $87 million in 2000 to $262 million in 2007). Today, credit union assets sit at over $1.3 billion.

With a strong and successful mortgage infrastructure in place, Superior CU created Superior Financial Solutions, a full-service mortgage credit union service organization (CUSO). Superior Financial Solutions, led by Kurt Neeper, was created in 2007 to offer client credit unions the ability to make fixed & adjustable rate mortgage loans, first-time homeowner loans, construction loans and blanket mortgages available to their membership while earning income with little to no investment or exposure.