BALTIMORE — NCUA grants this year will help 30 credit unionsstill using paper records buy computers and help move some creditunions still in managers' homes into commercial office space.

BillMyers, director of the agency's Office of Small Credit UnionInitiatives, described some of this year's grants available fromthe agency's Community Development Loan Fund during his sessionThursday at the National Federation of Community Development CreditUnions conference in the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel

Also from National FederationConference:

• NCUA to Retrain Examiners on Small CreditUnions
• NCUA Promises More Scrutiny,Help
• Grant News Kicks Off Confab

The agency announced its most recent grant availability last month.

Myers told the meetings that only 30 federally insured credit unions across the country still used pens and paper to keeprecords and the agency had concluded it was worth providing them$7,500 each, along with training, to bring them into the computerage.

Myers also said that the agency was troubled by credit unionswhich are still run out of private homes, including one that's a$20 million operation.

Myers drew chuckles from the audience describing how he had goneto a credit union to help on a consulting call and the manageranswered the door wearing a T-shirt, shorts and fuzzy slippers.

The grant program this year includes grants up to $10,000 tohelp bring the CU into regular commercial space.

'There are just all kinds of issues of having a credit union insomeone's home,” Myers said. “There are issues of access torecords, issues of control of the records if the home is sold or ifthe homeowner dies and someone else takes over the home. All sortsof things.”