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My dad owes about $6000 on a Discover cc. Well he is 74 yrs old, in poor health & only receiving Social Security. Totally on all of his other cc's he owes about $7,000 due to family members taking advantage of him. Anyways he refuses to discuss bankruptcy to help his situation but he is considering just not paying the Discover card & letting what happens happen. Considering his age & health & income what can the cc company really do to him? Can they take his social security money or his home or will they just call & send letters constantly until it is finally sent to a collection agency?
Thanks for any help,
Monica
@M4: That really burns me to hear that family is taking advantage of him. I know a few people in similar situations. It's really sad. If you can't trust your family, who can you trust? But I digress...I do agree to just see if he can settle a deal with them, but if he doesn't care about his credit then I guess just have him default; does he feel he would never need it for a home, rental, etc? Maybe he can just pay the minimum payments indefinitely?
He does care about his credit score but I'm more concerned about what all of this worrying about money is doing to his health. I understand we should all pay the debt that we owe but his situation is the exception, he wasn't the one that ran up the credit cards & he isn't the one the should have to try & find the money to pay them back. Anyways as long as the cc company can't tough his house or car I'm going to tell him to just default on this card & get it over with. They can't take him to court or sue him can they or garnish his social security?
thanks
They likely will not get anything from his social security as it would cause an "undue" hardship on him. God forbit anything were to happen and he pass then credits would have claim to his estate, so that may be something to consider. Unfortunately debt doesn't just disappear when the person passes. And depending on the laws in your state, if he is married, then the debt could be passed to his spouse. (this depends on your state, and also depends on whether they both were on the credit card, and other factors).
But if the funds coming from his estate is really of no concern, then it may be beneficial to see about cutting a deal with discover. They will likely take something over taking nothing at all. See if they could lower the interest rate and/or accept lower payments. (they would of course likely close the card)
@Anonymous wrote:He does care about his credit score but I'm more concerned about what all of this worrying about money is doing to his health. I understand we should all pay the debt that we owe but his situation is the exception, he wasn't the one that ran up the credit cards & he isn't the one the should have to try & find the money to pay them back. Anyways as long as the cc company can't tough his house or car I'm going to tell him to just default on this card & get it over with. They can't take him to court or sue him can they or garnish his social security?
thanks
Lawsuits can be brought for unpaid debts.
Because this is so serious I would talk to a local attorney about options. This is too important to only get advice and suggestions from an online forum. See what the lawyer recommends.
From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802
EQ - 7/06-663, 3/10-800
TU - 8/10-772
You can do the same thing with hard work
@MarineVietVet wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:He does care about his credit score but I'm more concerned about what all of this worrying about money is doing to his health. I understand we should all pay the debt that we owe but his situation is the exception, he wasn't the one that ran up the credit cards & he isn't the one the should have to try & find the money to pay them back. Anyways as long as the cc company can't tough his house or car I'm going to tell him to just default on this card & get it over with. They can't take him to court or sue him can they or garnish his social security?
thanks
Lawsuits can be brought for unpaid debts.
Because this is so serious I would talk to a local attorney about options. This is too important to only get advice and suggestions from an online forum. See what the lawyer recommends.
From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802
EQ - 7/06-663, 3/10-800
TU - 8/10-772
You can do the same thing with hard work
+1 --- he can be taken to court and sued. even if the doesn't have money, a judge can enter an order that he give back to Discover any major purchases that was made on the credit card. For instance, if he purchased a large screen tv, or major appliances, or furniture... so, it is not always cash that is gone after. If Discover knows he is on a fixed income and likely cannot pay, would they sue him, probably not, but they CAN.
Ok, one more question. I was told that he could send a letter to discover such as:
I am writing in regards to my Discover credit card acct that I have with your company. I am 75 yrs old in poor health & my sole source of income is Social Security. I am no longer able to keep up with my credit card payments (due to my failing health & medical expenses). I am left with no other choice but to start the process of filing for bankruptcy.
I was told that sending this type of letter with his circumstances that they will pretty much just write the acct off & he won't even have to actually take the steps to file bankruptcy. Waste of time or helpful?
thanks
@Anonymous wrote:Ok, one more question. I was told that he could send a letter to discover such as:
I am writing in regards to my Discover credit card acct that I have with your company. I am 75 yrs old in poor health & my sole source of income is Social Security. I am no longer able to keep up with my credit card payments (due to my failing health & medical expenses). I am left with no other choice but to start the process of filing for bankruptcy.
I was told that sending this type of letter with his circumstances that they will pretty much just write the acct off & he won't even have to actually take the steps to file bankruptcy. Waste of time or helpful?
thanks
That's one of the questions you need to ask an attorney.
From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802
EQ - 7/06-663, 3/10-800
TU - 8/10-772
You can do the same thing with hard work
@MarineVietVet wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Ok, one more question. I was told that he could send a letter to discover such as:
I am writing in regards to my Discover credit card acct that I have with your company. I am 75 yrs old in poor health & my sole source of income is Social Security. I am no longer able to keep up with my credit card payments (due to my failing health & medical expenses). I am left with no other choice but to start the process of filing for bankruptcy.
I was told that sending this type of letter with his circumstances that they will pretty much just write the acct off & he won't even have to actually take the steps to file bankruptcy. Waste of time or helpful?
thanks
That's one of the questions you need to ask an attorney.
From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802
EQ - 7/06-663, 3/10-800
TU - 8/10-772
You can do the same thing with hard work
+1 -- I wouldn't touch that one with a ten foot pole. If he does have to file for bankruptcy at a much later date and Discover runs in with this letter and tells the court how they were effectively "deceived", then the debt may not be discharged. Of course I am not an attorney, but during my bankruptcy, I saw the magistrate rip into some people that were filing that were previously less than truthful and she even dismissed (instead of discharged) one guys claim for bankruptcy.