Credit Union still insisiting on guarantor

truthseeker said:
How are college fees not 'spending'? Its a luxury - not an entitlement or a basic human right.
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I think that Danielle is quite clear in that she is not borrowing for lifestyle borrowing such as going on holidays. She is borrowing for education which may well be an investment.

Danielle

The Credit Union is supposed to be a community and member based organisation. As a shareholder, you own the credit union. You should write to the Chairman and make a complaint in the strongest possible terms and ask for their credit committee or the manager to respond in writing.

If you do not get a satisfactory response, go to the AGM and kick up a fuss.

if you get a response in writing that your loan was refused because of your relative's problems, then you will definitely have a case for the Financial Ombudsman.

As it is, you should consider talking to the Data Protection Commissioner. A family's history might be relevant for a first time borrower, but if you have a long and good credit record with them, then it should be irrelevant.

If I was struggling with a loan, I would be furious if the lender discussed my affairs with a relative. Your relative may well have a case for the Ombudsman as well.

Having said all that, the Central Bank's regulations have swung way too far and it's making it difficult for CUs to give loans.

Brendan
 
Thanks Brendan,

I might just do that as I can't see how they can justify their actions when I haven't missed payment in 5/6 years.
 
Totally agree with Brendan's comments above. I was involved in the Credit Union movement years ago in Dublin.
The whole ethos of the movement was that it was a group of members who came together to save on a regular basis and thus provide loans for themselves and their fellow members. It promoted thrift i.e. you had to save regularly and your savings thus enabled you to get a loan. The area was known as a common bond which usually meant a particular area drawn on a particular district or it could mean a work area and anyone living or working in that common bond was entitled to become a member.
Then the whole thing seemed to change as people started demanding higher loans for deposits on houses. When I was involved the maximum loan was 3 times your shares to a maximum which may have been around 4k. Then some credit unions started offering loans up to 10 times the shares held and they really started to become like banks.
Many people myself included just paid down our loans to a certain level and then topped up again. Nothing wrong with that as usually the loans were small compared to some loans nowadays.
I just feel that the founders of this great movement one of whom I knew RIP must be spinning in their graves with the way the movement has gone forward - and personally I feel its the wrong way. By all means loan money for cars etc and things like home improvements that people need. It became more a business than a community based organisation which was really to help people to help themselves. And a lot of people in Ireland today would be very badly off but for the Credit Unions as a lot of older people did not have bank accounts and had little or no access to any other form of credit.
Now like everything else in this country there is a regulator and rules and bureaucracy which hinder the very people that the movement was set up to help and support.
 
As regards some of the comments made by the OP, nobody should discuss any other members's loan with another member - unless that member is acting as a guarantor and the person who has the loan is in arrears or is in difficulty meeting their repayments. Usually that would have been done by a letter to the guarantor who also must be a member of the credit union, or by perhaps an interview with a member of the Credit Committee. I would have serious issues with that and the OP should write a letter to the secretary or ask to speak to somebody on the credit committee.
Members of credit unions should attend their AGMs but unfortunately like everything else the running of credit unions is usually left up to a few and really other members need to get involved. Board members act in a voluntary capacity.
Maybe the credit unions lost the run of themselves. Now the whole ethos of the organisation has collapsed. Members looking for small loans that they had no problem getting in the past, find that this line of credit is now no longer available to them. I have heard stories from friends and relatives who are long standing members in their credit unions, that they are having difficulties getting even small loans and credit unions are looking for bank statements and other documentation where before this was never an issue. And a lot of people who had accounts in their local credit unions did not deal with banks at all. Sad really that it has come to this.
 
Just to give an update I went into the credit union and said to them id clear the balance (€1200) and could I then take out a loan of €1500 in my own name with no guarantor etc, they said they'd just give me the loan of €300 and that i'd be fully responsible for the entire balance, result :)
 
Danielle24 said:
They said they had my name down they obviously knew we were related. To be clear I never gave them authorisation to do this. I have told them that I have more than proved myself but they're not budging. Anyways there's a credit union in another town nearby which I would probably be allowed to open an account in as I am not based in either town just outside them, so i'm gonna open one with them and start saving for a loan with them and clear with the other CU.
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Danielle24, I would forget abt the guarantor for a minute and would investigate really why do they have you linked with a close family member. You said that you were not a guarantor for them so this is quite bizarre and in my opinion, it would be worth getting to the bottom of that first.
It seems that they have you linked to them for a reason...you need to find out why
 
Yes because said family member was in arrears. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and see how they treat me now that the account balance is solely in my name.
 
Danielle24 said:
Yes because said family member was in arrears. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and see how they treat me now that the account balance is solely in my name.
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Can you tell us how you got on with the CU, with regard to the 'connected accounts' issue and the loan guarantor? Slim
 
Oh. I didn't push the issue in the end the account is now solely in my name and they allowed me to get a top up on my loan. If there's any issues in the future I will take the matter further.
 
Glad you got sorted out, you're a real fighter Danielle, thanks for coming back with what happend.
 
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