Lafayette Federal Credit Union review: CD penalty for early withdrawal

I would give negative stars if I could.

Beware of off the chart penalties for early withdrawal on Lafayette Federal Credit Union CDs which are hidden when the CD accounts are open. They can be up to almost a 2 year penalty for a 5 year CD. I looked up the available balance on my 5 year CD I opened last year and it was the full balance yet Lafayette Federal Credit Union has given no indication it will honor it. They also had the option to waive the early withdrawal penalty for emergencies which they do not do. The NCUA and other regulators are investigating my complaint.

I had all kinds of issues opening the account and never got it resolved when I emailed LFCU leadership. I had a family emergency which meant I needed to cash in the CD early. Top my surprise, they had a 600-day penalty for early withdrawal on my CD. I don't recall seeing this when I opened the CD. You will not see this in the certificates section of the LFCU website lfcu.org/personal/certif…. Hidden on the LFCU website is all the penalties for early withdrawal. lfcu.org/files/Fixed-Rat…

There are plenty of banks out there with similar or higher rates with far lower penalties for early withdrawal. You can even get similar rates on US Treasury Notes with no state tax and no penalty for early withdrawal.

LFCU says it is Member-Owned, Not-for-Profit -You're a member AND an owner at Lafayette Federal. We treat our members as unique individuals with specific needs and financial goals. We are member-owned, not-for-profit, and community-minded. This couldn't be further from the truth based on my experience. The penalty for early withdrawal section shown above which I don't recall seeing when I opened the CD says LFCU MAY impose a penalty for early withdrawal. They want to impose a huge penalty and this is after escalating to LFCU leadership.