Member Petitions

Posted by Anthony Demangone

NCUA, via NCUA Express (sign up already!) released Legal Opinion Letter 10-0822 yesterday.  The guidance addresses numerous issues surrounding member petitions.  File this one away.  While you won't need it all that often, it is the best source of guidance regarding petitions to date.  Here's a snippet:

Generally, a member petition must include sufficient information to verify member support for the petition request. In a 2006 legal opinion, our office provided guidelines on verification of member support. See OGC Op. 06-0326 (Mar. 28, 2006). The 2006 letter stated a petition must include the member’s name in legible type or handwriting, accompanied by sufficient identifying information to enable the credit union to verify the membership status of the petitioners and prevent the listing of members without authorization. A petition should include some additional information about the petitioner so an FCU can confirm the member’s identity. What additional information will suffice depends on how member support is solicited (i.e., in person or by electronic means). For example, if organizers of a petition solicit hard-copy script or “wet” signatures, information such as a telephone number or address or the last four digits of a social security number is likely sufficient. Hard copy signatures on a petition can also be compared to those on FCU account signature cards. For petitions solicited electronically, use of some personal identifier, such as the last four digits of a member’s social security number, is important given the technological difficulty of obtaining a script signature electronically. Due to privacy considerations, however, an FCU should not require members to disclose their account numbers or full social security numbers as a means of verifying identity.

The guidance contains additional information, and it raises a good point.  When considering member petitions, remember that not all account joint owners are members.  Non-member joint owners do not have the right to sign a member petition.  It is a good read.