Court held creditor must pay debtor for creditors wrongful repossession. In this case, the debtor pledged his vehicle as collateral on a loan and the loan was in default due to late payments. The creditor, Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp., repossessed debtor’s vehicle, however, the court found the repossession constituted a wrongful repossession, or “conversion.” The court […]

Here, credit union member, Randy Pieper, was discussing possible financing for the purchase of an apartment building with a loan officer of Melrose Credit Union.   The loan officer told Pieper that a local gas station was for sale and the purchase of the gas station would be a better investment than the apartment building. […]

In this case,  debtor filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy attempting to liquidate some $67,000 of unsecured credit card debts. The Court denied the discharge as to Corestates Bank. Here, the debtor used his credit cards to obtain cash advances for daily living expenses. The debtor’s charge cards were nearly all charged to the maximum limit. […]

Here, the credit union brought an action against Carol and Donald Phillips and their seventeen year old son after the son stole a check from his parents, forged his mother’s signature and made the check payable to himself. The son then presented the check to the credit union and obtained $2,200. Most states have statutes […]

General Motors Acceptance Corporation issued a loan to debtor secured by debtor’s new automobile. The debtor purchased disability insurance through GMAC which provided that payments on the loan would be made to GMAC by the insurance company if the debtor became disabled. Debtor did, indeed, become disabled when she suffered a stroke. A claim was […]

Here, the debtor, a former police officer, applied for and was approved for a loan from Hartford Police Federal Credit Union for $150,000. The debt was intended to be utilized to pay off an existing second mortgage on debtor’s residence and for the purchase of a balloon business. At the closing on the credit union’s […]

Preferential Transfer: “Time” of Transfer adopted. — On September 11th, a garnishment was filed on debtor’s savings account; — On September 17th, a garnishment order to pay was issued by the court; — On September 19th, garnishee defendant received the order to pay; — On September 27th, funds were paid to the court by the […]

In this case, Dutch Point Credit Union challenged the sale of its collateral by a mechanic’s shop that resulted in extinguishing the credit union’s perfected lien. The credit union granted a loan secured by debtor’s Datsun automobile. The credit union properly placed its lien on the vehicle. After the loan was granted, the vehicle was in an […]

 Here, debtors failed to keep adequate records of their finances, and consequently the court denied their discharge. The debtors’ Statement of Financial Affairs indicated that they were principals in nine corporations. Some of the corporations were inactive, however, debtor, Mr. Vetri testified that he was unable to locate any of the business records of the […]

In the case of David Scoggin vs. Listerhill Employees Credit Union, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling in favor of the credit union. Here, the credit union repossessed a member’s Dodge Dynasty and sold the vehicle at auction for the highest bid of $5,000. The vehicle’s odometer displayed mileage of 18,334 miles, […]