Credit union wont release my car title

Yes, it's legal but they're ethics suck if they did't inform you of the debt prior to loaning the money for the purchase. Credit union managers are sometimes lower than used car salesmen. They should have added the charge off into the payemnts for the vehicle. Check your contract to see when the title must be released, if it says that the title will be released within a certain number of days after the last scheduled payment and has nothing about prvious debts, you can file a complaint with the state agency that regulates credit unions. Send the same letter to the credit union's board of directors. The loan officer should have informed you of the old debt and its consolidation into the car loan and the amount should have been added into the loan documents,

No. This is NOT legal at all. The contract or loan agreement you signed was for the purchase of a vehicle. Your checking account has nothing to do with the car, or the car loan. If you have satisfied the loan contract/agreement by paying it in full, then they can NOT hold the title for any reason.

If you were to go to court, you would win since no where in the loan agreement does it stipulate anything related to your checking account, or owing money not related to the car loan.

Call them and speak to a supervisor. If they still insist, then ask them for contact information to their legal department. That should fix the problem right away and they should send you the title... if not, then once you speak to the legal department, ask them where in the contract does it say anything about checking accounts.... and ask them for the name of their attorney. They will send you the title the next day once you make them think you will get a lawyer. They do not want to pay legal fee's for something like this...trust me.