Complaint Review: Sierra Central Credit Union - Yuba City CA

None of us here work for this or any other Credit Union, Bank, or Financial Institution.  I've seen way too many people like you get yourself into messes like this though.  The scenario is pretty much the same; you think you can do a deal like the hard money guys can because you think you're a hot-shot broker making $200K a yearand know the RE side, except you screwed up.  When you do a deal like this, then you better be prepared to go it alone, if you needed to.

What made me laugh about your narrative is this:  You said, I had something like a 750-780 credit score ... followed in the same sentence by the fact you got a car loan at 125% of my car's value, which came out to be around $22,000.  People who have a 750-780 score don't take the equivalent of a title loan out on a used car at 125% of value unless they lack liquidity.  They weren't just offering you loans as you said - you were desperate for loans.  You needed the money to finish the duplex.  Otherwise, there is no reason to get a loan on a used car at 125% of value.

Whatever your criticisms of the credit union may be, they cannot legitimately be based on what you wrote.  You had to know that once the house sold, they would offset outstanding debt against the sale of the home, especially if the home was either the collateral for the debt, which it usually is, or you completed a personal guaranty for the loan.  I mean that's a no-brainer.  As I previously said, this is ALL on you.

You can believe what you want, but no one here works for the Credit Union. We are all just regular consumers who are telling you something you don't want to hear. Nothing we say is going to convince you otherwise, so if it makes you feel better to continue your pattern of denial of any responsibility to make it seem like the "evil" credit union has nothing better to do than to post on some public web site..go right ahead.

First of all, you have no idea how much money I have, not whether or not I can afford an attorney, nor should you be giving me advice on whether or not I should file bankruptcy...this incident started over a year ago, so that was then...this is now. And you folks at Sierra Central Credit Union just keep trying to use every red herring technique to divert the attention away from the facts that actually matter.

- You really want us to believe that in about a year you went from having a 200K/year income, to being forced to eat beans to live, to being able to pay every single cent back to your 40 delinquent accounts and a 12,300 car loan. Yea...and if anyone believes that, there is a nice bridge for sale in San Francisco.

But if it is truly only about the FDCPA and the FCRA violations, then let's look at that.

The FDCPA only applies to 3rd Party Collection agencies, so with the Credit Union being considered the "Orignal Creditor" they are not bound by the FDCPA. The FCRA does not restrict a company from attempting to collect a debt by filing a suit. You seem to be hanging your hat on the fact that they did credit pulls. But since you are in an existing relationship with them, the pulls are legal. You then have to look at "damages", one requirement to go above the minimal Statutory damages is to prove how you were harmed. You are going to have a very tough road, with those 40 delinquent accounts trying to prove that a few extra inquiries were detrimental to your ability to get good credit.

But since you know everything, perhaps you can tell us what specific sections of the FDCPA and FCRA you claim the violated and how much you are going to sue them for.

Note to anyone reading this - If the OP decides to respond the response will consist of variations of at least one of the following statements. "You don't know what you are talking about", "I am not going to tell you", "Since you are obviously the Credit Union you will find out when I sue you", or my personal favorite "It doesn't matter what the violation is".

No one forces anyone to take a loan - period.  You made a very bad choice; people with a 750-780 credit score don't take on so many numerous loans, even when all of the loans are not delinquent.  With a total of $45,000 in loans, and a duplex, your credit score - given a $200K income level - was probably closer to 600 than 700. 

Add to that "something like 20 credit cards, 10 utility accounts, and I gigantic mortgage.."  You got those cards and you claim you had a 750-780 score before all of the loans?  I don't think so.

So let's piece this together:

You had a duplex that you couldn't complete for whatever reason because you lacked the necessary capital to follow through on, which is why you went to the CU to obtain loans to try and finish the duplex.  The construction crew abandoned your job likely because no one paid them; they may have even placed a lien on the property.  You hoped your partner would pay part of that, but that didn't happen, so you sued the partner, but there was no money coming from either an insurance company or from the partner.  The lien essentially prevents you from either (a) selling the property, or (b) completing the construction.  In short, you got way overextended - which happens in these sorts of situations.  You're simply mad because the CU sued you for your outstanding balances on your various loans.  I'm not sure what you expected.  What the CU did was probably the most responsible thing.

Let's be clear.  You took a risk.  Sometimes these chances will result in a nice profit, plus guaranteed income for an extended period of time.  Sometimes, what you described also happens.  This is not the fault of a credit union.  This was simply an unsuccessful deal.  Suing the CU when you can't even afford an attorney at this point seems silly.  Declare bankruptcy and move along.

Jim, 

That is your real name, right? I'm assuming like the last couple posters, you're yet another employee of Sierra Central Credit Union. First of all, you have no idea how much money I have, not whether or not I can afford an attorney, nor should you be giving me advice on whether or not I should file bankruptcy...this incident started over a year ago, so that was then...this is now. And you folks at Sierra Central Credit Union just keep trying to use every red herring technique to divert the attention away from the facts that actually matter.

Also, I never try to get out of my responsibilities and I've always paid every cent I've owed to creditors, but in exchange for institutions such as yours having the privelage of charging consumers lots of interest, this is precisely why the FTC created the FCRA and FDCPA...so that consumers like myself have some level of protection against unscrupulous banks and credit unions. The bottom line, that you keep trying to divert the attention away from, is that you did violate my rights under FCRA and FDCPA...and that's really what this is about.

So, you can keep using your red herring tactics if you wish, but you're not fooling anyone. Also, I'm happy to report that I just paid the $12,300 approximate dollars to you to pay off my car loan, as I don't wish to pay you a single dime in interest anymore. You've already taken enough from me, and I don't wish to deal with an institution like yours every again. 

 It's about time to start calling failure to pay your bills a "disease" so personal responsibility is deflected.

Hello Sierra Central, 

Just wanted to thank you for the response. You are wrong about the Hard Pull thing, and bottom line is, everything else aside, you agreed to the terms of a settlement, and then dishonored it, Period. There's nothing else to say. And yes, you are a very pretatory institution. Practically every other review online from many other previous customers of yours say the same thing. 

You admit to multiple cases of loan default by failing to honor your payment agreements and therefore you won’t be suing anyone.

It Isn’t Predatory to Pursue a Debtor.

In your entire post you don't take responsibility for a single thing.  They persuaded you to open up the loans. The Market was tough. You were defrauded. The arbitrator hated your attorney. The contractor left. They were the only ones to sue you.  They broke the agreement.  Gees...when you forget to pick up milk at the store do you blame the cow?

This may be news for you but it is not a violation of the FCRA or FDCPA for a bank to sue you if you have delinquent accounts.

I had something like a 750-780 credit score, and they persuaded me to take every loan I could.

- Oh yes...THEY "persuaded" you. You could have said "NO", very easily..but you didn't because from your own words "At that time, I had a real estate investment company that made at least $200,000 per year, so this was no big deal"

I guess this evil Credit Union also persuaded you to move to Sacramento. Did they sabotage your Real Estate business?

..I had something like 20 credit cards, 10 utility accounts, and I gigantic mortgage I was 2 months behind on. I was literally living off of rice and beans, and facing bankruptcy. Although I had something like 40 bills to pay (most of them seriously delinquent), Sierra Central Credit Union was "The Only" one who actually sued me.

Then you were very lucky...but it doesn't make it illegal for a company to protect their legal rights.

Their collection department is as predatory as it gets. When I was finally in a position to sell my home, I contacted their collection department, but refused to cooperate with me directly, and instead, forced me to call their attorneys

- Yes this is what happens when you become delinquent and they sue you.   You didn't work things out with them before so they are done with you.  

They also deceived me, and ran "Hard Pulls" on my credit without my express authorization, thus braking multiple laws. They violated multiple laws of the FDCPA and FCRA, and I will be suing them.

- Actually if you have an existing relationship with a creidtor(current or delinquent) they will have a legal right to pull your credit, because you gave them this right in opening the account.

But you are now going to sue them? Let me guess you figure you are going to sue them for 100's of thousands of dollars and shut them down.  Okay now that I have stopped laughing...

You may also be able to claim that their actions caused you issues. But with 40 accounts(Most of them severly delinquent).  I can gurantee you that a few "hard pulls" barely made a dent in your already serverly crumpled Credit Score. So sure go ahead and sue them...even if you prevail you will be lucky to get a couple thousand out of them for Statutory Damages.

Of course when you lose, I imagine you will be right back here telling us how the judge hated you and intentionally sided with the bank illegally and you are going to file an appeal.