Here it comes: Car dealer suing Chrysler Financial for credit freeze

You know it was bound to happen. Car dealers, who have been frustrated by not only the sagging car sales as well as different gimmicks that their companies have had to employ that have cut their bottom line, have also had to endure credit tightening by leaps and bounds over previous policies across the board. So, it's no surprise to learn that a car dealer has taken matters into his own hands, suing Chrysler Financial for their part in his gradual descent for his business.

Denny Hecker, who claims he has dealt amicably with Chrysler Financial for almost two decades, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota after several weeks of discussions that failed to resolve the dispute. In the lawsuit, Hecker said the ties between his businesses and Chrysler were treated with "flexibility and grace" over most of the 20 years rather than through a micro-managing approach to the contracts that they put in place from the beginning or that changed moderately over time. However, after Cerberus Capital Management acquired Chrysler, according to Hecker, that changed immensely. The claim is that Chrysler Financial suspended floor plan credit lines without notice and notified manufacturers, as well. It had extended floor plan financing to more than a dozen dealerships. Hecker is claiming 75,000 plus fees.

Is this a frivolous lawsuit? Not necessarily based on the monetary amount, but does it really have merit? I mean, the guy said that they had contracts but that Chrysler had basically allowed him to bend the rules--I am sure that it was to the benefit of both companies, but whenever there is a change in management, you SHOULD expect things like the "good ole boys network" to go to the wayside, and especially in today's economic climate, you really should be expectant of there to be leeway given.

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Here it comes: Car dealer suing Chrysler Financial for credit freeze

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