[Lapg] THE COLOR OF MONEY/THE PERMACULTURE CREDIT UNION MIGHT BE AMERICA'S GREENEST BANK

Thu Jul 15 06:06:18 PDT 2010

THE COLOR OF MONEY
THE PERMACULTURE CREDIT UNION MIGHT BE AMERICA'S GREENEST BANK
http://sfreporter.com/stories/the_color_of_money/5411/

PCU website  www.pcuonline.org

By: Corey Pein 03/10/2010
Within a month of becoming president of the Santa Fe-based 
Permaculture Credit Union (www.pcuonline.org)-a unique financial 
institution based, as the name suggests, on eco-friendly 
principles-Don Sarich had his first encounter with a skeptical 
government regulator.

"One of the regulators said to me, 'Don't worry, you can get a job 
somewhere else because we're going to shut you down.' That's a true 
quote," Sarich says. "I thought, 'Now I have to prove you wrong.'"

That was in 2003. Times were different then. That February, President 
George W Bush had introduced his ideal of an "ownership society." His 
Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, would soon cut interest 
rates to 1 percent, making it absurdly cheap for financial 
institutions to borrow money-and lend it out at much higher rates.

The Fed's easy credit policy helped create the appearance of rapid 
growth and unprecedented prosperity in a nation that no longer 
produced many tangible goods, preferring to leave that task to poorly 
paid laborers in faraway countries. The easy credit enabled record 
bank profits and, for executives, a number of private jet purchases. 
For average Americans, it encouraged runaway spending on needless 
luxuries and a quickly mounting pile of debt it now seems the nation 
may never repay.

Then it all went bust.

Since the early stages of the global financial crisis in 2007, 243 US 
banks and credit unions have failed, according to the online Bank 
Implode-O-Meter, which offers "Your play-by-play for the end game of 
modern banking." Their assets-or what's left of them-have been 
consumed by bigger fish. The federal government essentially invented 
a few trillion dollars, by printing more money and borrowing against 
hoped-for future growth, and used it to try to stimulate the credit 
markets, in what increasingly looks like a hopeless attempt to revive 
the illusory "ownership society."

Across the country, mailboxes once stuffed with pre-approved credit 
card offers began filling with foreclosure and past-due notices.

Meanwhile, back in Santa Fe, PCU has more than doubled in size. And 
of the approximately $15 million in loans the young credit union has 
made, only $23,000 worth has been written off as uncollectable, 
Sarich says.

"One was a foreclosure," he says. "The member passed away, and the 
relatives couldn't get rid of the house in time."

This year will mark PCU's 10th anniversary. In the past couple of 
years, Sarich says, the regulators that once predicted the credit 
union would shut down have been more understanding of the institution 
and its goals.

Next to the mad, money-hungry risk-taking on Wall Street, PCU is a 
fundamentally conservative operation that pays modest dividends to a 
like-minded membership. It shuns the latest short-term 
profit-oriented financial products.

"Why would I be chasing derivatives, when the core business is to do 
loans for your members who are doing things that are sustainable? 
There's a difference between what the financial markets have done and 
what the credit union is doing," Sarich says.

In another sense, PCU is anything but conservative: It seeks to prove 
that a financial institution can grow while embracing real 
environmental sustainability.

"I wouldn't really call it an experiment. It's more challenging the 
financial system," Sarich says.

PCU specializes in making loans that traditional banks and credit 
unions avoid: a loan to construct a new Earthship or off-the-grid 
home, or a second mortgage to pay for solar panels, for instance.

"I refinanced [an Earthship mortgage] that was paying 21 percent 
[interest] in New Mexico," Sarich says. "The person had good credit. 
He had a good equity position. I couldn't find a reason the 21 
percent was being charged, besides greed."

Another example of the permaculture approach to finance: PCU charges 
lower interest rates on car loans for fuel-efficient vehicles. So 
they'll cut you a break if you're buying a Prius-but if a Hummer is 
what you covet, look elsewhere.

PCU Board of Directors Chairman Brendan Miller says there's a reason 
most Santa Feans haven't heard of the credit union.

"We have been under the radar sort of intentionally," Miller says. 
"We have a limited ability to take new members."

That's because of a regulatory requirement that PCU maintain a 6 
percent capital ratio-money it keeps in reserve to back customers' 
deposits. Such a rule keeps consumers' money safe, but for a small 
money co-op that refuses investments it deems unethical, it also 
makes growth difficult. Sarich says a new customer recently wanted to 
move $90,000 to PCU from Bank of America. To maintain the proper 
ratios, he could only accept $5,000.

Miller says PCU relied on grants to fuel its past growth. But for its 
anniversary, the credit union will be soliciting donations in order 
to permit the expansion of its member base. (Alternatively, PCU could 
raise rates on existing members to create a profit-but the board has 
chosen not to.)

To be sure, PCU's credit offerings are somewhat limited.

"If you want to do a first mortgage, you may have to get in line 
until we can absorb that," Miller says.

And while PCU does make student loans, it has made only one business 
loan, an arrangement with Santa Fe Farmers Market.

Nor is PCU fully buffered from the outside world. Last month, PCU 
reported an $8,800 operating loss-but not because somebody was late 
on their Earthship payment. Rather, the loss came from PCU's 
investment with a larger nationwide credit union consortium, which 
was more exposed to nationwide problems.

Overall, Miller says, PCU stands to benefit from public anger at Wall Street.

"Our values are to reinvest in our communities, where our members 
are, in the bioregions where we live. We are looking to a more 
sustainable model-and we do see ourselves as an antidote to a lot of 
that excess," Miller says. "We do see [the financial crisis] as an 
opportunity for us. And we have weathered it quite well."

PCU By the Numbers
     *    Members: 1,009

     *    Estimated percentage of members with A+ credit scores: 80

     *    Assets (including loans and investments):
$5.65 million

     *    Liabilities (including member deposits):
$5.47 million

     *    Number of loans outstanding: 257

     *    Number of loans that are more than two months delinquent: 6

     *    Average monthly income from fees, per member: $2.17

     *    Number of employees: 3

     *    Total employee compensation, including benefits (2009): $122,100

     *    Federal bailouts received: 0

     *    Average CEO compensation at financial institutions that took 
federal TARP bailout money: $3.4 million
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