In my practice some of the most aggressive collection activities comes from local credit unions. The credit unions are getting their clients to sign agreements that basically cross collateralize loans with bank accounts or other assets. In most cases my clients do not even know they have agreed to those terms when they are getting the loan. The other practice that credit unions employ is shutting down clients checking and savings accounts after they have filed for bankruptcy. This practice does not make sense unless they are attempting to punish people for filing for bankruptcy.
It is important for consumers to look over their loan documents carefully to make sure they are not cross collateralizing any of their assets in order to secure a loan with a credit union. I have even heard of some local credit unions taking back peoples cars if they do not sign reaffirmation agreements. In many cases this is doing the client a favor, since the car they are taking back is underwater. In these cases the credit union has decided to take back a car worth less than the loan, sell that car at auction and take a huge loss. The alternative is my client continues to pay on the car loan, and the credit union recovers the full value of the loan, over the course of the payments. In some cases the credit unions may have better rates than banks, but I have seen much more aggressive collections from these credit unions. Some of the credit unions seem to take any bankruptcy filing personally and attempt to punish their former clients. We generally advise our clients to avoid credit unions if they are filing for bankruptcy protection.

If you are a consumer you have to be vigilant regarding your finances. This is true in most areas including credit cards, bank charges, defective goods or services. In most cases big companies rely on consumers not being aware of their rights or not enforcing their rights in order to give individuals poor service.
One of the most common area for hidden fees and expenses are from the financial industry including banks and credit card companies. If you do not look closely at your bank statements or credit card bills these companies could charge you a wide variety of fees including late fees, over the limit fees, minimum balance fees, crazy interest rates, bounced check fees (even if someone bounces a check to you) and some banks are charging fees to use a debit card.
In my case it is easier to enforce my rights as a consumer because I am a lawyer and am able to sue on my own behalf to get companies to honor their warranties or to get banks to reverse crazy charges, but for most people you cannot hire an attorney, since the attorney may charge more than the dispute. This is exactly what a lot of companies realize and is why they are able to offer bare minimum service. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney a good remedy is using social media to see if you can get companies to rectify your complaints. In most instances companies monitor these sites closely and will attempt to make you happy to avoid negative reviews of the social media sites. If that does not work you could always sue the company in small claims court.

Things are looking up for Minnesotans looking for work. According a Star Tribune article published on Friday and found here: http://www.startribune.com/business/141041603.html the job market is looking good and Minnesota unemployment is reported at 5.6 percent. If you have now found a job, congratulations. The issue you will now face is one of protecting your new income from creditors. When a person is unemployed typically they are “judgment proof.” “Judgment proof” means a creditor cannot collect against you because you do not have income or assets. Once you start working, any judgments you have can be used to collect through garnishment or levy. Both your bank account and wages are fair game. In the situation where you have started work again and have started to rebuild assets the question becomes do you want to work for your creditors and struggle for 10 or more years to pay them back or should a bankruptcy be considered. Despite what the news media will have you believe you can repair your credit faster while at the same time increasing your net worth quicker by filing bankruptcy.

If you choose not to file a creditor may garnish 25% of disposable income, meaning you are working for a creditor 25% of the time. The same creditor can also take all of the funds you have in your bank account. By choosing to file bankruptcy your wages are protected and your bank accounts are safe. Contact me to discuss the truth about bankruptcy.

If you are experiencing creditor harassment in Minnesota you may have rights to sue the debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This act prohibits creditors from using abusive or profane language when attempting to collect a debt from you. It also sets limits on the number of contacts a creditor can have with you, and limits the hours that a creditor can call. If you have retained an attorney to represent you in Minnesota the creditor must contact the attorney and may not contact your directly, if the contact you after the know you are represented by an attorney they are in violation of the FDCPA. If you have been harassed by a creditor give our office a call to see how we can help you deal with your debt.

In most areas of Minnesota a car is absolutely necessary. One fear individuals have when contemplating bankruptcy is that their automobile will be lost. The key to remember with a car that has a loan or lien is the debt is secured. Bankruptcy will discharge unsecured debts and will discharge your personal obligation on a secured debt. Bankruptcy will not strip a lien off a car. In the case of a car with a loan, so long as you continue to make payment in most cases you will keep your car. The bank does not want your car back in most case. In some odd cases a bank will want you to sign a reaffirmation agreement in order to retain your car.

In the case of a house located in Minnesota, the same thing goes, not only do you need a place to live but a bank does not want the house the bank wants you to continue to make timely payments. So long as you continue to make timely payments on your house you will keep it. Banks, especially in the case of houses, do not want them back, they would rather you keep making payments because the cost to foreclose is high. If you are behind on house payments a chapter 7 bankruptcy can temporarily stop the foreclosure. If you can bring the payments current the foreclosure will be canceled and the sheriff’s sale will be canceled. For individuals who are months behind a chapter 13 bankruptcy can allow a individual to catch up during the plan. If you have a second mortgage that is fully unsecured (the debt owed on the first mortgage is greater than the value of the house) a MN chapter 13 can strip the lien effectively brining a house that is underwater back closer to the surface.