A seriously dishonest or desperate borrower, even if relatively rare, can be the cause of the biggest losses a lender may face. Many loans are extended on the assumption that the bank has sufficient collateral—whether real estate, equipment, receivables, or other property—to repay the loan in the event the borrower cannot make his regular payments....

When Minnesota farmers divorce, often there are insufficient liquid assets to allow the non-farming spouse to be immediately paid in full for his or her fair share of the marital estate. When that happens, the non-farming spouse is often paid over a period of time—similar to a bank that loans money to a borrower. In...

Quarantined in my cramped college apartment in the city, my mind drifts back to my considerably more spacious roots. I grew up on my family’s grass-fed beef farm, nearly 300 acres of lush, permanent pasture and preserved prairie and woodland in the drumlin region of Southeastern Wisconsin. I cherish those childhood farm memories; everything from...

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) is a federal law enacted in 1970 to promote the accuracy, fairness, relevancy, and privacy of consumer information in the file of credit reporting agencies. Banks and other financial institutions are an important link in the consumer credit reporting chain, and in a variety of circumstances, they are subject...

When a prospective borrower approaches a lender and requests financing for any consumer purpose or business operation, the lender must evaluate whether or not the borrower has sufficient capacity to repay the loan. Two options will often come to mind for most lenders. First, the lender may require more than one individual or entity to...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented change to what “business as usual” looks like across America. The banking industry is certainly no exception, and many common questions have arisen regarding what the coming months will look like in the industry. On March 27, 2020, Gislason & Hunter held a free webinar to offer insight...

While the COVID-19 virus continues to force us all to stay at least 6-feet apart, telemedicine is helping to bring patients and health care providers together. The practice of using technology to deliver medical care and treatment is an already growing industry and is now more necessary than ever during the current nationwide public health...