Facts: 1.  Debtor, Specialty Contracting and Supply Company, granted a security interest in its equipment, among other items of collateral, to one Richard Fraley; Fraley was an officer of Specialty Contracting and he filed a financing statement in Texas where Specialty Contracting operated at that time. Two years later, the debtor’s business moved to Georgia. Chronologically, the […]

The trial court held that the credit union’s actions, as well as that of the credit union attorney, violated the bankruptcy code’s automatic stay. The trial court ordered the credit union and its attorney to pay $15,000 in punitive damages. Here, debtor purchased a kit to transform his 1970 Volkswagen chassis into a 1937 Jaguar […]

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 […]

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 […]

This Court ruled that the lender’s Notice of Mortgage Acceleration Notice was fatally defective.   Here, Gerardo Pico borrowed money from First Union National Bank of Florida and secured the loan with a mortgage on his real estate.   The loan was two months in default and the bank notified debtor that he must cure […]

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 […]

Question: Are credit union Home Equity and/or Second Mortgages subject to modification by a debtor’s Chapter 13 Plan? Answer: Yes. In the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts located within the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and applicable to the Federal Bankruptcy Courts located within the State of Michigan, this issue is currently governed by the rulings in the case […]

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, […]

In this case, Wachovia Bank of North Carolina held a mortgage on environmentally contaminated property. The mortgage went into default and the bank foreclosed on the property, purchasing the property at the sheriff’s sale. The bank then sold the property to purchasers who later sued the bank since the property was contaminated. The Comprehensive Environmental […]