Credit Union's Breach of Contract?

[madamsanders]

I have a complicated problem and I am not sure what I should do about it. I have been in banking/finance for 5 years now and I have always had good credit. I bought a Toyota Celica GT in 04 at 7.5% interest and a year or so later I saw a Credit Union advertising 4.9% for 04 and 05 models so I decided to go ahead and refinance. I was currently working for a different Credit Union at the time and I pretty much knew the routine so I had asked about getting the payoff information and I was informed that they had to call and verify that information for themselves. I signed all the documents and went about my way thinking I was saving some money. Three months into paying this new lender I get a call from the previous lender stating that I was going into collection status on my auto loan. I contacted my Credit Union and they informed me that they would get it taken care of and would just roll it into my current loan. They took all the information from me and told me they would handle it. Another couple of months go by and I receive another call stating I am still deliquent on my loan. I contacted them again and they again said that they would get it taken care of. Shortly after I receive a letter stating that failure to provide proof of ownership (title) caused them to change my interest rate to 12% for an unsecured loan. I went back and forth with them about the error all the while them saying they were taking care of it. I finally received a letter stating they had recieved my title and had reinstated my original agreed upon rate. After a few more weeks went by I thought I should call just to make sure and when I did I was informed that they did not have my title and I was still paying 12% for the loan. Then it got to the point where I couldnt get ahold of anyone and no one would call me back. Finally almost a year to the day I worked it out with the original lender, paid the remaining balance myself and recieved the title free of lien. I then contacted the Credit Union about refunding the interest due to their error and was informed that they would not so I told them they would not recieve another penny from me until they honored the original agreement. That was over a year ago. They sent me some letters stating they were going to file judment against me and so on so I contacted a legal aid who told me not to give them the title and that they had just won a case against that same credit union for a like instance. I didnt really even think much else of it until I saw my credit report a few months ago. I had dropped 200 points due to this loan which they were reporting as an usecured 20K chargeoff. I contacted their attorney liason told him I had no problem paying for my car if they would just honor the original agreement. He started threatening to sue me when I asked him about the consumer rights laws and then I asked him to fax over the section of the contract I signed stating they could not pay off the original loan and change the interest rate-which of course he never sent and has still not filed anything against me.
so now my credit is shot, i've got a $20K unsecured chargeoff and car not worth 5K because its been wrecked and am looking at either correcting this by hiring a lawyer or filing bankruptcy. I am lost. Please help.

[able1]

Based on what you say here, you could file suit against them (or at least threaten to do so) in small claims court or in regular court; filing in small claims court is easier and requires no attorney...you could try to collect all of the costs and damages that you suffered due to their behavior... You may also report them to your state attorney general's office.

[madamsanders]

Thank you so much for replying!
If I were to pursue this in small claims court, I wouldnt know what I would need to proceed forward on my own. And if I do hire a lawyer, what type would I need? This happened in Florida and I live in Louisiana now, where would I hire one? Someone told me a lawyer that does consumer law but the few I have talked to dont wanna mess with a credit union of that size (that's the impression I got anyway.) The one lawyer I did talk to (that said he had just won a case against the same credit union) told me not to give over my title or work out THEIR plan and the cheapest way to go was to just wait and see if they DO sue me because he was sure they wouldnt. What he doesnt realize is the effect it is having on my credit and future abitlity in my career (finance) and/or perhaps buying a house. I cant even find his name and number anymore...

[madamsanders]

I met with an attorney, actually a couple from the same firm all at once, and they definetly agree that I got something here. Breach of contract and fraud, and they want $1500 to start and file with Federal court.
This would be a contingency case except the only question is "where does jurisdiction lie?" It's understandable, they dont wanna work for free.
The credit union is nation wide, I believe. I signed the contract in FL then a month later moved to TX, then 6 mo later took this job in LA and have been here a year and a half.
I would hate to pay $1500 to the wrong lawyer to have it thrown out due to wrong jurisdiction.
Any ideas?

You could also use small claims for free. Any lawyer that takes 1500 needs to be sure of jurisdictional issue--first.

[madamsanders]

Makes sense. I wouldnt even know where to begin to file small claims or even how to do anything of the sort. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before....

[randalljd]

See http://www.worldlawdirect.com/articl...ims_court.html

[madamsanders]

It states that small claims court is for damages $2500-$10K. This dispute is $22K dollars to start. Is that allowed?