Local News in Brief : VA Will Reissue 3,200 Lost Checks
The Veterans Administration on Tuesday ordered reissuance of about 3,200 pension and benefit checks that apparently failed to reach veterans in several areas of Los Angeles, a spokesman for the agency said.
Bill Sawchek, VA regional public affairs director, said the problem affected recipients in 13 Zip Code areas. Although the March 1 checks were issued by the VA’s disbursing office in Austin, Tex., postal authorities said they did not receive them for delivery.
Sawchek said complaint calls indicated that the problem did not extend to those checks mailed to banks for direct deposit to veterans’ accounts.
He said regional veterans’ benefits director James Maye ordered duplicate checks issued for all home-delivery recipients in the 13 Zip Code areas, even though many of those beneficiaries may not have complained.
He advised anyone who receives a second check not to cash it.
“Irrespective of who’s to blame,” said Sawchek, “we decided to go ahead and solve the problem.” In the meantime, the VA and postal authorities were trying to determine what happened to the original checks.
He stressed that it might take 8 to 10 days for a replacement check to arrive.
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