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NACUSO Cooperation Among Cooperatives: Stories from the Inside

Each month we highlight at least one NACUSO member by interviewing one of their top executives. It’s an opportunity to tell their story in a casual and fun way. This month we sat down with John Theobald, President of a new CUSO, CU Appraisal Services.

John Theobald, President of CU Appraisals hanging out.
John Theobald, President of CU Appraisal Services hanging out.

PART ONE: Life Story and Experiences

I want to hear the story of how you came to work with the credit union movement?

Family. Mother started in credit unions when I was a kid. She is currently CIO at Visions FCU in NY. She started at a small credit in Hamilton, Ohio, Chaco Credit Union. Which is the same credit union that Doug Fecher, CEO of Wright-Patt Credit Union  and Tim Mislansky, President, myCUmortgage came from, who are also the original customers of CU Appraisal.

Where did you grow up and what was it like living there? Where did you go to school?

I grew up in Hamilton, Ohio. It’s a suburb of Cincinnati and a blue collar town that thrived on the paper industry. I went to Hamilton High School. A little bit of college in Miami University in Oxford, Ohio but got my degree at University of Phoenix.

Who were your mentors along the way? People who deeply influenced who you are, what you believe in and what you’re committed to in your work and life? Tell me about them.

In business it’s certainly Tim Mislansky.  He gave me that first job at Chaco Credit Union. Spent 5 years working at Wright-Patt and still to this day I look to Tim. My mother of course as well. I’ve been really inspired by what she’s been able to do at a multi-billion dollar credit union. My current chairman, Ron Stickleman is an incredible entrepreneur and businessman.

Finally can you share something interesting about you that would surprise our readers? It can be anything, a hobby, an adventure, sports, the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you,

Oh wow. I don’t know. Growing up the coolest thing was I was on a team that was on the road to the Little League World Series. I mean we didn’t make it but our games were on ESPN and everything. So as a kid that was pretty cool. I play the guitar. I had a kid at a very early age and I already have a 2 year-old grandson, Brayden, at age 33.

PART TWO: The CUSO Business Story

Tell me the story of how your CUSO was created – where did the idea come from? Tell me about some of the key players and how long it took to get it up and running. 

As I mentioned before I worked at Wright-Patt. That was 12 years ago and where I met Ron Stickelman, owner of Stickelman and Associates appraisal firm.  About 15 years ago he got rid of all of his banking customers and decided to focus solely on credit unions.  I took that relationship with me to Day Air CU.  In 2007 as the whole mortgage world was flipped upside down appraisal management companies were emerging to try and to prevent the housing disaster from happening again. So Wright-Patt CU worked with Ron Stickelman to create CU Appraisals.  In 2013 I came to work for him and in 2016 was made President. It was not a CUSO at that point. It wasn’t until mid 2014 when we really started to look at the CUSO model and decided that we are never going to serve banks. There is a real problem in the industry today. The only way for credit unions to benefit is for CUSOs to come together to collaborate on these kinds of issues.

Converting to the CUSO model was an 18-month process.  We did not officially become a CUSO until February of this year. We are the only appraisal management company CUSO that we are aware of.

Who are the CUSO owners?

The owners right now are CU Advantage a wholly owned CUSO of Kemba CU in Cincinnati. And we have a letter of intent with Randolph Brooks FCU in San Antonio. Our vision is that we will be 100% owned by credit unions in the next few years. Majority owned in the next year.

What kind of credit unions are you looking for, to invest?

Guy’s message in the NACUSO blog about leveraging the cooperative model is the type of credit union we want. We want the kind of credit unions that want to collaborate – or as we say internally – that play “nice” together. We really need collaborating credit unions all across the country.

What are the primary benefits you bring to credit unions who use your CUSO?

Quality appraisal reports and compliance. It’s trying to change the valuation landscape. There’s a real problem with appraisal shortage in the US. We want CUs to have a loud voice and work through us to establish apprentice programs so that we have trusted advisors in the communities where they are doing business. The main goal is to protect the credit union and member. That’s why credit unions seek us out. 

PART THREE: Looking to the Future

Five years from now where would you like your CUSO to be? What are your goals?

We certainly want to be the number one choice for appraisal services for credit unions. We think we can do the right thing for the member and the credit union. We have roughly 65 direct credit unions and through the CUSOs we work with roughly 200 credit unions. But that still only represents about 2% of all the credit union mortgages that are in the country. 5 years from now we want to be on the front end of the appraisal industry leading the charge for change. We are already considered a mid-size player in our entire appraisal management industry.

Finally, when you think of the future of the credit union movement, what gives you hope and what makes you concerned?

I think the concern right now is the threat of disruption from FinTech companies, who are making it very easy for people to get mortgages.  Credit unions and all of us in the industry need to develop competitive mortgages and processes so that we are just as quick, convenient and present a more compelling value.

What gives me hope for the credit union industry as a whole is that we have always done right by the consumer. I have faith that credit unions will evolve and continue to be the financial source for members of their community. Additionally – and this might be a little self-serving, I’ve been part of this growth. I really hope credit unions continue to grow in the home buying arena. The home buying segment is so critical – they have the opportunity to apply their member service skills and knock it out of the park.