In this case, the court addressed the issue as to whether a bank’s policy of refusing to hire college graduates violated the law prohibiting discrimination based on age. Here, Sol Stein was 58 years old and a college graduate. The bank had a policy not to hire college graduates for certain positions. Mr. Stein applied […]

Most of our fifty States have adopted the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which prescribes the method for a creditor to perfect security interests in collateral. Credit unions utilize the UCC filing provisions to perfect their security interest in items pledged as collateral on a loan, such as on a vehicle. Once a creditor files the […]

In this case, debtor filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy seeking to discharge his unsecured obligations. The debtor listed over $55,000 of unsecured debts on his bankruptcy schedules, including a $9,500 loan from a credit union. The bankruptcy Trustee reviewed debtor’s monthly budget and found that debtor could afford to repay some of his obligations (such […]

In some states, a debtor’s wages are generally not subject to garnishment. Here, however, debtor’s wages were directly deposited into the debtor’s account at I.B.M. Employees Southwest Federal Credit Union. A judgment creditor thereafter garnished debtor’s account at the credit union and debtor brought an action to dissolve the garnishment, arguing that the funds in […]

The two cases below held that the Bankruptcy Code section exempting “student loans” from discharge in bankruptcy, does not apply to student loans issued from credit unions. The first case of TI Federal Credit Union vs. John Delbonis, involved a debtor who, in a four year period, obtained more than $43,000 from TI Federal Credit […]

Bank of the Mountains granted a loan to debtors secured by a second mortgage on debtors’ primary residence. Debtors filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which was later converted to a Chapter 13 case. Debtors listed the bank as an unsecured creditor since the value of their residence was less than the balance owing on the […]

Today’s sophisticated desktop publishing makes it easy to produce virtually undetectable fraudulent checks with which to bilk unsuspecting businesses and financial institutions, say the NCUA officials. However, the law gives financial institutions “reasonable time” to check the authenticity of a check if they have “reasonable cause” to doubt its collectibility. In one California case, checks […]

Here, a 34 year old credit union loan officer submitted a Workers’ Compensation claim against her employer credit union for post-traumatic stress disorder. The claim was denied and on appeal the credit union prevailed. The Court of Appeals of Oregon found the credit union employee had been exposed to an armed robbery at another credit union […]

Here, debtor purchased more than $1,100 of collector Barbie dolls and accessories within 40 days of filing for bankruptcy. Debtor sought to discharge these debts to the creditor who issued the credit card upon which the charges were placed. Creditor filed an adversary complaint with the Bankruptcy Court claiming that these Barbie doll purchases were “luxury […]

In this case, the Court addressed whether the prohibition against transfers to creditors prior to the bankruptcy filing begins from the date of transfer, or runs backward from the date the bankruptcy is filed. Here, the creditor obtained a judgment lien against the debtor’s property 90 days before the date of the filing of the debtor’s […]