One Community CU Member's Take Disclosures

DALLAS – The Texas Credit Union League may have chosen not to comment on the disclosures that the $1.4 billion Community CU has sent to its members about the pending charter change, but that has not stopped credit union members from having opinions. Elaine Laroa, a business developer living in Dallas, has been a Community member for five years and Community is her primary financial institution. She has her car loan, mortgage, checking and savings accounts there and said that she was introduced to credit unions as a child because her parents, both immigrants, had been credit union members. “I felt the mailing was a very one sided, `pro conversion,’” Laroa said. “If it was meant to be informational, why was there no “against the conversion” information also included?” She said the statement that NCUA had intended to help make the charter change decision clearer for members was, in fact, largely hidden on the back of a one page insert on which the leadership placed its own answers to the questions. “In a democratic environment, you want educated voters. Where was the `For’ and `Against’ information so members can make an educated vote?” Laroa asked. Laroa stressed that she had nothing against banks as banks but said that she had come to Community because it was a credit union. “If I wanted to belong to a mutual savings bank, I could have opened an account at one in the first place,” she said. “If my credit union becomes a bank, I will have to look for another credit union that can take care of my financial needs. I know I am not the only CCU member that feels this way because I have asked members about it while standing in line at CCU in store branches.”