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How to deal with creditors when credit cards were used by wife w/ mental illness?
Any legal advice would be very much appreciated. My wife has mental illness (major depression, OCD & PTSD) which causes her to be very impulsive about spending and lying. She is receiving intensive treatment now, but when she was untreated she ran up credit card debt in my name to the tune of about $25,000. She had used my SS# to apply for and receive cards and then maxed them out. I used the cards somewhat as well, under the pretense that she had saved enough money before I met her to pay them off (she didn’t).
Needless to say, the bill collectors are after me. There’s no way we can afford to pay them, as we have a 9-month old daughter and one income. Her mentall illness is well documented by physicians. Is there any way to dispute the charges on these grounds? If not, what options are there? Please keep in mind that we can’t afford $700+ a month to go through a credit counseling place. Thanks.
No…you can look and look and find no real concern on their part. However a good parasite doesn’t kill it’s host, and so they are somewhat flexible as long as they’re getting the max possible. Unless you’re pulling down six figures, there is no fiscal way you can pay off these loans (assuming all will be at 18% or higher APR after a few missed or under the limit payments become justification for raising these rates.)
You can snowball payments (look up snowballing high interest debts) and save thousands and pay these debts off in 10 years instaed of 30, but the fact is you will be burning a mountain of money. Screen your calls, and avoid any leaking of your contact info to any creditor. As a couple, lean to live on what you have in the bank, and avoid ALL credit offers for the next several years under your names.
You’re staying with your wife, so the debt is yours to keep. I suggest you put your money in the bank, change your phone numbers and keep them very private, and never ever pay or neogtiate with a third party after primary debtors charge off. Just prior to charge off’s from primary debtors (the ones you have a signed contract with) you can make one or two attempts to contact them (do not do it from your new phone number by the way, but through the mail), and make a settlement offer to each one.
Do not offer to settle one of these debts for more than 30% of the original principal, because that’s all they can sell them for. Bogus charges, fees, and acruing interest will have been added to the debts.
It is likely they’lll respond with something like half of what they’re demanding. Even primary debtors may not call your place of work…if they do get a fax number and fax them a Cease and Desist letter (a demand letter you can google up). Any third party must honor a cease and desist order immediately. Once a debt charges off…forget, shut them down with Cease and Desist orders, and wait for the dept to go to the next third party and repeat the process if they contact you. The primary debtor has already collected a write-off and is for all intents and purposes paid, and you have no contract with them. Secondary debtors are the aggressive collectors, because they have no other leg to stand on besides harrassment.
There is no debtor’s prison. The card companies should have been sensitive to what was happening since they are so fond of the math, and it’s obvious this is an irrational amount of credit to offer in your case….and so, that much credit should not have been extended.
You’ll not see the luxary of a high limit card again for a long long time, so consider picking a favorite (most reaosnable) debtor, and paying just that card down.
You can settle with third party debtors, and find many examples of settlement offers, but that’s only if you need to purchase a house of something that absolutely requires a loan. Otherwise, I suggest you look into groups like I3 Solutions, which can legitimately make credit reporting companies ban/remove debts where their ‘owners’ have violated any of 200 rules they _must_ follow to the letter. Included in that are many things that very few debt holders follow correctly. That sort of service can run well over $1000 to have done, but in your case might elliminate as much as 50% of your accounts completely out of your file….forever.
They have their nasty little rules to charge us fees and rob us blind once we get over our heads (by design) and so let them eat their own crow by hiring groups able to make them follow the FDCPA rules they must follow!!!