Lawsuit settled with Michigan bank over illegal repossession of servicemembers’ cars

By Jennifer Cruz

A Bay City, Michigan-based credit union agreed to a settlement this week stemming from a lawsuit that alleges the financial institution illegally repossessed vehicles owned by active duty servicemembers.
The agreement with COPOCO Community Credit Union was announced by the Justice Department Thursday.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan on July 26, 2016, the credit union violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which protects certain rights of servicemembers while on active duty.
Under the SCRA, vehicles cannot be repossessed from active duty servicemembers without a court order, provided payments and deposits were made prior to active duty status. However, on numerous occasions, COPOCO repossessed servicemembers vehicles without first verifying military status or obtaining court orders, which adversely affected servicemembers and their families.
An investigation was launched following an October 2015 complaint from Alyssa Carriveau, whose vehicle was repossessed from the driveway of her home in Lacey, Washington. Carriveau, whose husband, U.S. Army PFC Christian Carriveau, was active duty and engaged in out-of-town military training at the time, first believed the vehicle, which contained their 2-year-old daughter’s car seat, had been stolen. Carriveau later learned

Source: Guns.com