EPEFCU

The Purchase of a Lifetime

Everyone knows it’s a buyers market, and if you’ve even considered the thought of owning your first home, your dream might just be within reach. If you’re ready to commit to purchasing your own home but aren’t sure if you can afford the fees associated with the cost, there are a variety of first time home buying programs your family may qualify for.

 Many first time homebuyer programs require that the buyer meet income requirements, attend homebuyer education programs, and purchase a home that is within target market areas. According to nyhomes.org, a target area is an entire census tract or portion thereof which has been designated by the federal government as economically distressed.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs First Time Home Buyer Program or Bond Program 77, as it is often referred to, offers down payment and closing cost assistance for low to moderate income Texas families. Home buyer education is required, however, in order to qualify for this assistance and buyers must meet certain requirements:

•         Must meet income and purchase price requirements

•         Have not owned a home within the past three years

•         Meet the qualifying underwriting requirements of the mortgage loans

•         Use the home as the primary residence

•         Must complete an approved pre-purchase home buyers education course prior to loan closing

The City of El Paso also offers a first time home buyers program designed to help families making a gross annual income between 60%-80% of the median income for the City of El Paso. As with any other first time home buyer program there are certain restrictions that must be met:

•         Applicants must complete a Guide to Ownership course

•         Applicants must meet income requirements

•         Property purchased under this Program must be located within the geographical limits of the City of El Paso

Many low to moderate income residents living within the City of El Paso seek the help of The Housing Authority whose mission is to acquire, lease and operate affordable housing for the residents of El Paso with limited income. The HVC Program, created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, is now offering qualified candidates the chance to purchase their home via the Homeownership Program. Interested candidates must have been receiving assistance for at least one year from the HCV rental program before applying. Applicants are then placed on a waiting list, time spent on the waiting list can range anywhere between 15-18 months but can be longer and is dependent on the availability of the vouchers.

There are a variety of programs designed to help assist first time home buyers with both down payment and closing costs, and not all are income based. Check with your lender before applying for a loan to make sure they offer any one of these programs.

Your dream of buying your fist home is closer than you think! Just remember that the process can be stressful, but with the right help, you’ll be in the home of your dreams in no time.  

The Benefits of Using Direct Deposit

Many financial institutions, including El Paso Employees FCU offer direct deposit. Aside from saving time by not having to stop by your financial institution every time you receive a paycheck, direct deposit can actually save you money. Find out how you can benefit from this convenient feature and enroll in direct deposit today!

 

Recognizing the Importance of Financial Health

A recent study conducted by Equifax showed that an average of 16.15 percent of annual El Paso household income was going to credit-card debt in 2010, ranking as the fifth highest in the nation. One credit union in El Paso, TX is working to change this statistic by offering products and services that have been catered toward educating and changing the spending habits of its members.

“The consumer is in a 'I have to have it, I need it now' mentality,” says Ken Walters, president and CEO at El Paso Employees Federal Credit Union.

Currently, the credit union is working to illustrate the importance of financial literacy among the young adults in its city. “It’s important to get a hold of them early,” says Walters, who hopes the developing programs at his credit union will teach El Paso residents the importance of budgeting and living within their means.

Recently the credit union teamed up with the Jose Cisneros Cielo Vista Branch Library to present financial seminars once a month during the library’s Teen Tuesdays night. They are also planning to launch an online Teen Magazine that they hope young adults will utilize as a financial tool in their lives. The content will include tips and frequently asked questions members of this age group might have. It will be catered specifically towards their financial needs.

A new online banking solution, NetTeller, will help El Pasoans due just that. According to the symitar websites, NetTeller’s state-of-the-industry online capabilities can include access to account balances and history, one-time and recurring funds transfers, account statement and check image viewing and downloads, loan payments and advances, check ordering, and downloads of account information into personal financial management solutions.

Another product, LibeRate, gives members the ability to raise their rate on a CD once, should interest rates go up, yet another tool the credit union hopes will help its members manage climbing interest rates.

This year brought with it the celebration of 75 years for this El Paso financial institution, a milestone it dedicates to its members.

“As a credit union, our focus is not so much on the bottom line,” Walters says, “we’re learning how to put more money in our member’s pockets, hopefully helping to stimulate the El Paso economy.”

Their 1 percent off, 1 percent back refinance program is also meant to put cash back into members pockets. In 2010 alone, they gave back over $200,000 in cash to their members.

This credit union has big plans for the road ahead, and thanks to their inspiring team, El Paso Employees Federal Credit Union continues to create products and services catered towards improving the financial health of its members.

Meet Kevin Quinn

This year, El Paso Employees FCU joined the long list of lineups at the Spring Home Show in order to celebrate the opening of our brand new mortgage department. During the show we raffled off a grill to one lucky winner. Please help us in congratulating Kevin Quinn, the winner of our grill give away! Kevin has been a member at EPEFCU for 25 years! Click on the video below to watch our interview with him.

 

Funding Our Future

Learning how to live a healthy, financially sound life takes practice and like anything else, the earlier you start, the easier it will be. As the children of our community grow older, we realize that these young adults will soon be entering the workforce and becoming the future of our city. And so, in an effort to influence their perspective of the way our society spends money, EPEFCU has begun a variety of programs dedicated toward helping the young adults in our community learn to successfully manage their finances.

Our semi-annual writing contest is a recent addition to the long list of scholarships our credit union currently makes available to the students of our community. The contest is meant not only to provide financial aid to those in need, but also to promote literacy through the written word. Each semester, two students, a college student and high school senior, are chosen to receive $1,000 towards their college career. We understand that college can be an expensive endeavor, one many children cannot afford. According to a story published by US News and World Report, the average annual tuition (plus expenses) at a private nonprofit four year college is about $35,000.

These days it’s difficult to come across any entry level position that doesn’t require a bachelor's degree. As young adults enter today's workforce, they realize the importance of a college education. Yet for most, it is difficult to understand why the cost of higher education continues to soar. In the past 25 years, the average cost of tuition and fees has risen faster than personal income, consumer prices and even health insurance, according to the College Board.

El Paso is no different. The University of Texas System’s Board of Regents approved an approximately 3.95 percent increase to tuition rates beginning in the fall of 2010, at nine university of Texas Institutions, including UTEP. The increase adds to the approximately 70 percent increase that UTEP has seen since 2004.

While we may not be able to stop the continually soaring price of a degree, we can do our part to ease the cost of an education for students. The writing contest is meant to help not just current college students, but high school students as well. Unlike most scholarships however, our writing contest makes it easy to apply.

Students are asked to choose from three topics, each relating to their personal finances. They must then write a 1,000 word essay recounting their experience and email it back to our credit union. A board will then read the each of the essays and choose the top writer from both the college and high school category.

Last semester was the first launch of the writing contest, and we were pleased and excited to have received hundreds of entries. Being able to read about the struggles the students in our community have had with money has helped us to create programs centered around their needs. Along with our writing contests, we are excited to roll out our fist ever Teen Magazine that will feature stories and financial tips related to their experiences.

Nearly two-thirds of college graduates leave school with debt, up from less than half in 1993, according to the non-profit Project on Student Debt.  We want to change this statistic and so we’ve dedicated 2011 towards educating the future of our community.

Past, Present, Future: Celebrating 75 Years As Your CU!

The 20th century brought with it the longest, most widespread and profound depression in U.S History. Yet, in the midst of this economic crises, 10 city employees in El Paso, Texas came together to join the credit union movement. Just one year earlier, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act into law in hopes of making credit available to people of small means and promoting thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions.

In November of 1936, each of the founding members gave five dollars in an effort to provide financial opportunities to those who had been underserved. Today, credit unions still live by the “people helping people” philosophy, and El Paso Employees Federal Credit Union is no different. By offering an exclusive membership to city employees, EPEFCU became an essential cornerstone in providing vital financial services to the people of El Paso. Today, EPEFCU continues to serve as a financial foundation to over 40,000 of its members and it has extended its services to anyone who lives, works or worships in El Paso County.

We are tremendously honored to have been able to serve the El Paso community for 75 years and we promise to continue to make the next 75 years better than the last. 2010 brought with it a myriad of changes for our credit union. As many already know, EPEFCU partnered with the City of El Paso to help make the 75th anniversary of the Celebration of Lights a remarkably memorable experience for the residents of El Paso. In conjunction with the partnership, EPEFCU designed a limited edition, glass ornament to commemorate the event. Proceeds were then donated to the Candlelighters of El Paso, an organization dedicated to helping the families of our city.

We at EPEFCU feel passionately about helping the future of our community learn how to live a financially sound life, and so we’ve created a variety of new programs designed to teach young adults how to become financially responsible.  

Last year, the credit union launched its semi-annual writing contests, increasing the opportunity for financial aid available to students in our community. We understand that financial literacy begins at an early age and this year, EPEFCU will increase its efforts to try and reach out to our city’s young adults. This year, the credit union will partner up with the Jose Cisneros Cielo Vista Branch Library to present financial seminars once a month during the library’s Teen Tuesdays night.

EPEFCU will also launch an online Teen Magazine filled with tips and frequently asked questions members of this age group might have, as well as a financial blog catered specifically to young adults.  

We’ve also expanded the number of electronic services available in hopes of making banking fast and easy for our membership. EPE Anytime, our newest mobile banking feature, and our new Online Account Service are products created to accommodate the fast paced lives of our members.

As we enter into the 75th anniversary of our credit union, we are excited for what lies ahead and hope that we can continue to show our members along the way how grateful and exceptionally proud we feel to be given the honor of serving the financial needs of a community that has supported us for so many years.

Thank you for being a member! EPEFCU values that you have chosen us to be your financial institution of choice!

Your Voice, Your Credit Union

 

Be a part of our exclusive team and let your voice be heard!