By: Nicholas K. Rohner, Esq. For any credit union seeking to negotiate with one of its members over a lump-sum settlement of the member’s delinquent, unsecured debt,[1] one potential roadblock is IRS Form 1099-C. This form reports the amount of a member’s debt that is forgiven or canceled; and although a member is unlikely to…
By Keri P. Ebeck, Partner As of December 1, 2015, the United States Bankruptcy Courts will mandate usage and filing of the forms approved at the Judicial Conference in September 2015. Although many of the official bankruptcy forms will change, those effecting lenders and creditors directly include: proof of claims, mortgage attachment (also known as…
By Matthew M. Young, Attorney While forging paystubs to obtain credit is not a new concept, I have a number of credit unions that have advised me of an alarming increase in the use of these phony documents to support employment and corresponding income. Historically, forged paystubs were more common for indirect automobile loans obtained…
By: Matthew Young, Attorney I want to take a moment to address rights to set off (or “offset”) from a credit union’s account. This issue most commonly arises when the debtor misses a payment or dies. As a general matter, most credit unions should have the right to set off funds in either of these…
By Matthew D. Urban, Attorney On June 3, 2015 the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Richard Cordray, announced in a letter to Congress that the CFPB was postponing implementation of the TILA/RESPA rules until August 1, 2015. However in the Federal Register that is scheduled to be published on July 24, 2015…
By David Wolfe, Attorney Michigan allows judgment creditors to garnish funds owed to a judgment debtor through a periodic garnishment (which is typically sent to an employer), a non-periodic garnishment (which typically seeks to seize funds in a bank account) and a tax garnishment. Recently, Michigan amended its statute governing periodic garnishments, MCL §600.4012, effective…
By Matthew Young, Attorney All Credit Unions are faced with the daunting challenge of providing exceptional member service to its members while keeping its costs low. One of the more frustrating and costly circumstances surrounding this concept involve members or third parties requesting documents from the Credit Union. These could be requests from your members…
John Porter, Partner The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently indicated it was exploring limitations to end payday debt traps by requiring lenders to take steps to ensure consumers can repay their loans. These proposals would also restrict lenders from attempting to collect payment from consumers’ bank accounts in ways that result in excessive fees.…
Join WWR Attorney Matt Urban at the PCUA Connect Conference at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA on May 14th – 16th!
By: Matthew M. Young, Attorney As a financial institution, credit unions expect to incur certain losses for members who pass bad checks; however, it is critical to utilize methods available in the law to curb such abuse. In Ohio and most states, such activity qualifies as a criminal act and is compensable with treble damages…
By Matthew M. Young, Attorney With tax season upon us, I want to remind credit unions of their obligation to timely file form 1099-Cs in cases of certain satisfied and charged off debts. A credit union that forgives or writes off $600 or more of a debt’s principal, not including amounts attributable to interest or…
By Matthew M. Young, Attorney Any credit union accepting powers of attorney (POA) should know that a POA ceases upon the death of the principal. A lesser known fact relates to durable powers of attorney; the durable POA survives incapacity (i.e., an individual unable to manage their business/property affairs due to, most commonly, cognition issues). …
By Matthew Young, Attorney As more and more credit union members move to online banking, credit unions are similarly encouraging members to accept electronic statements in lieu of paper statements as part of their online banking service. The advantages of doing so are several, not the least of which is saving money on paper and…
By Matthew Young, Attorney When your member defaults on his or her loan, your Credit Union is going to want your member to cure the default as quickly as possible or exercise the quickest and most cost effective means to recover the balance. Most commonly, this recovery will occur through offset or (setoff), which is…
By Matthew Young, Attorney At least a couple of times a month, a credit union will reach out to me with a summons or other court pleading which was directed to a former employee or retired/deceased board member. Commonly, the credit union will indicate it has no idea why the court pleadings were submitted to…
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