PEWAUKEE, Wis. - Wisconsin credit unions are offering special loan terms or reducing or waiving fees on financial services to help people recover in the wake of widespread flooding. While no credit unions have reported flood damage, it is expected thousands of members have been affected.
The Wisconsin league reported that one credit union has already set aside $1.5 million to offer existing members below-market rate home equity loans of up to $5,000 for as long as five years. The loans are intended to help people with clean-up services, home repairs, wall repair, replacement of furnaces, hot water heaters, washer and dryers, or furniture damaged in the flood. The credit union is also extending an auto loan special, with rates as low as 3.99%, to accommodate members who need to replace flood-damaged cars, and allowing qualifying members with consumer loans to skip one month’s payment without fees.
In other areas, credit unions have suspended or waived overdraft charges and other fees for members. And because of road closures that have made some credit unions difficult to access, several credit unions are helping each other’s members by cashing their checks or providing cash withdrawals, the league reported.
A fund has also been established to help one person who spent 25 years as a volunteer on the board of a Milwaukee area credit union after his home was washed away by floods in the Wisconsin Dells area.
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