Neetzan Zimmerman






A 100% disabled Army veteran and his wife
say a Minnesota-based law firm and debt collection agency has illegally
garnished their savings to cover a defaulted student loan and verbally
abused them when they asked for their money back. Michael
Collier was declared 100% disabled after suffering spine and head
injuries during his time in the Army. His disability entitled him to
Social Security payments exempt from debt garnishment. But that didn't stop Gurstel Chargo from seizing funds from the savings account of Kim Collier, Michael's wife, to pay off a $6,000 defaulted student loan.

At
a court hearing back in May, a judge ordered Kim's credit union to
unfreeze her assets effective immediately after definitively declaring
that her account was exempt from garnishment. But a Gurstel attorney
allegedly told Collier afterwards that he would need to sue the
collection agency "to get his money back." Trying
to sort the matter over the phone instead, Collier claims he was
treated to a barrage of obscenities and insults from an unidentified
paralegal. According to court documents,
"the assistant told Michael, 'Fuck you! Pay us your money! You can't
afford an attorney. You owe us. I hope your wife divorces your ass. If
you would have served our country better you would not be a disabled
veteran living off social security while the rest of us honest Americans
work our ass off. Too bad; you should have died." A lawsuit
subsequently filed by the Colliers demands a variety of damages from
Gurstel for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which very clearly prohibits the employment of harassment or abuse in the collection of a debt