CUSO Formed With One Washington Financial to Expand Co-Ownership Home Program Nationwide
We are pleased to announce that One Washington Financial (OWF), a wholly-owned subsidiary of WSECU, has made a strategic investment in Duome and is leading the formation of a new Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) to bring our co-ownership model to credit unions and their members nationwide.
OWF exists to advance financial well-being for credit union members by investing in innovative partners driving the industry forward. Their decision to lead reflects a shared conviction that credit unions are the right channel to deliver homeownership access at scale.
The CUSO structure provides participating credit unions with governance participation and a mission-aligned framework to deliver Duome’s co-ownership model to their members. For those members, it means access to a practical path into a home they could not otherwise afford. For participating credit unions, it means new mortgage origination volume from borrowers who are creditworthy but priced out under conventional terms.
"Homeownership is the primary wealth-building vehicle for most American families, yet it's increasingly out of reach for credit union members," said Scott Daukas, Chief Partnership Officer at OWF. "Duome gives credit unions a practical, mission-aligned tool to help members get into homes they couldn't access on their own. This CUSO is about turning the credit union promise of 'people helping people' into real homeownership outcomes."
“The families that credit unions were built to serve are the same ones being priced out of homeownership,” said Eric Berg, Co-Founder of Duome. “OWF didn’t just see the opportunity. They had the courage to act on it. That’s the kind of partnership that moves idea to reality.”
We are grateful to the OWF and WSECU teams for seeing what is possible. Duome continues to engage credit union leaders who want to participate at the ownership level and help shape what this becomes.
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About One Washington Financial (OWF)
One Washington Financial (OWF) is a wholly owned subsidiary of WSECU, based in Olympia, WA. OWF exists to advance financial well-being and equity for credit union members and their communities by investing in innovative, early-stage partners driving the credit union industry forward. For more information, visit owfcuso.com.
About Duome
Duome (Doo' ohm) is a CUSO built to help credit unions close the housing affordability gap. Through shared ownership co-investment, Duome co-invests alongside homebuyers as tenants-in-common, reducing monthly mortgage burden for creditworthy buyers while enabling credit unions to grow funded loan volume and deepen member relationships. Duome is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.