Modesto councilman settles credit card lawsuit

Modesto Councilman John Gunderson has settled his lawsuit with Citibank, which sued him last year over $14,578 in credit card debt.

The terms of the settlement are confidential and the case was dismissed June 19, according to Stanislaus Superior Court records. Lawyers for Citibank filed the lawsuit in June 2014. Gunderson said he could not comment but said he was frustrated it took so long to resolve the matter.

Gunderson said in a previous story that he is not a spendthrift but needed to rely on his credit cards for essentials during the recession. He said he was making payments on the Citibank debt when he was sued and wanted to resolve the matter with a payment plan. He said he accumulated about $30,000 in debt on several credit cards before paying them down or off, except for the Citibank card.

“I don’t think I’m a bad person,” he said then. “Circumstances put me in a bad spot. I’m not a free spender. I’m pretty tight.”

Gunderson, 58, was elected to the council in November 2011 and plans to run for re-election in November. He faces at least two challengers. He represents the council’s District 1, which covers northwest Modesto. He earns $24,000 a year as a councilman and works as a substitute teacher.

He has said that he believes voters will understand that his financial issues make him a true representative of the city, which took a beating during the Great Recession.

Citibank was represented by the San Jose law firm of Hunt & Henriques. An attorney there previously said the firm cannot discuss the lawsuit.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Modesto councilman settles credit card lawsuit."