PLAINS TOWNSHIP Penn.—VAntage Trust FCU says the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is forcing it out of two of its offices located on VA property.
The credit union is being asked to leave its Plains Township branch here and the Mundy Street office, in Wilkes-Barre, Penn., both located on VA property, due to a “misinterpretation” of a federal regulation, according to a report in the Citizens Voice. The Plains Township office was closed in May.
According to the Citizens Voice, the CU explained that an NCUA statute says the VA, or any federal agency, in its discretion can allow a credit union to either lease federal property or occupy it rent-free if 95% of the credit union’s members being served at that property are federal employees, retired federal employees or their families.
In 2003, VAntage expanded its membership when it received a designation that allowed it to service low-income areas of Luzerne County. This expansion, VA officials told the Citizens Voice, put its federal employee membership numbers below what is required for it to keep operating on federal property.
Colleen Madar, acting CEO of VAntage, told the newspaper that the Plains Township office at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center met the statute’s requirement — nearly everyone who used the branch was a Veterans Center employee or a veteran, she said. She said she does not know how many federal employees, or their family members, use the Mundy Street branch.
The credit union has operated rent-free for 62 years in Plains Township and also has occupied Mundy Street rent-free since opening the branch 17 years ago. The statute does not apply to the $60-million CU’s branches in Nanticoke and Pittston, Penn., because they are not located on federal property.
The news report indicated that many veterans, particularly at the Plains Township office, need the financial centers to be on VA property since it is often difficult for the older or injured veterans to move around without assistance.
One veteran told the newspaper he now asks his brother to travel 70 miles to help get him to another office of the credit union.
Madar said the credit union’s attorney told VAntage after negotiations stalled with the VA that it had no right to stay on either VA-owned property because it is not the landowner.
Madar told the newspaper that the credit union offered to pay the VA the fair market value of the Mundy Street land. It also made rent offers to try to renegotiate the expired contract and to keep the space in the medical center.
VA associate director Joseph Sharon told the Citizens Voice that the land on Mundy Street was originally donated and the VA doesn’t have the authority to pursue a sale. He said the VA has no intention of leasing its properties to other partners, including another credit union, and there are no future plans for the land on Mundy Street. The VA can’t accept rental payments from the credit union for either location because of the alleged violation of federal law, he said.