General Credit Topics

[Dawn]

DS who has been on his own for barely 4 months has hit on hard times. Room-mate skipped on him the middle of November after writing a hot check (late at that) for his share of the rent ... AND ... he lost his job a few days later. 

Even if he replaces the job ASAP, he can't maintain the apartment on his own and options to replace the room-mate don't seem viable.  No one available is stable enough to be dependable (and the environment at the complex is one he would do well to get away from) so he is faced with breaking the lease and heading home temporarily.

The priority is to get the $3400 that will be due the apartment complex taken care of so that isn't hanging over his head.  He will more than deplete his future "car fund" (he's driving a 20 year old car now) to take care of this.  Trying to collect from the vanishing room-mate will be a challenge ... so he is left holding the bag. 

His more pressing small financial obligations are due during the last week of December.  Hopefully by  then, he will have pulled himself together and at least have a part-time job to provide for these nominal expenses.  He needs approximately $100 for car registration renewal and safety inspection and another $100 for a  monthly car insurance payment, $25 for the last water/trash/sewer bill that will be coming in, and $60 for his cell phone. 

As we evaluate where to apply available resources, the one thing I am uncertain about the consequences of is ... his checking account is now overdrawn, including a couple of $34 overdraft charges.  I think the car related expenses are probably more pressing for him to deal with than the bank account, at this time, but I would like to know how hard to coax him to get it taken care of sooner, rather than later.

If he lets the bank account ride until next month when he will more likely have the money to get it out of the red, what happens? What types of records do the banks turn over to ChexSystems?  Do they start reporting on overdrafts right away? Or do they wait until after they have started sending collection notices? 

[fishbjc]

In this instance, he should call his bank.  Some banks are now charging $35 additional fees every few days in addition to the over drafts.  As far as the ChexSystem...I think that's for accounts that have been overdrawn and turned to collection.  Banks are now beginning to put those unpaids on your CR.

[SmartCookie]

Small claims court for the bad check from the roommate and related rent issues.  It's very easy to fill out the papers and put a public notice in the paper... and can't hurt.  If he gets that money together I hope they will release him from the lease in writing.  

This is the best time of year to at least get a seasonal job.  He might want to check out snagajob.com

I am not sure how soon Chex gets notified of what sort of issue.  I actually would try to get that settled first because of that reason.

Happy Holidays    Poor kid... life experience stinks sometimes.  I hope it goes well denbar.

[Dawn]

SmartCookie wrote:

If he gets that money together I hope they will release him from the lease in writing.  

Gee ... I had assumed that after they hit him up for a little over 5 months rent that they would release him. 

Makes me wonder if he would be better off siphoning off his car fund at least for the next month to see how things are gonna go with the job search.  He might be better off financially, assuming he gets a suitable job soon,  if he continued using the car funds to cover his ex-roomie's share of the expenses, and finished out his lease.  Eventually, he might be able to find a suitable room-mate and would no longer need that supplemental source of funds.

Edit:  I wonder if NOW I could convince him of the wisdom of Elizabeth Warren's & Amelia Warren Tyagi's approach in All Your Worth that encourages a money management approach as follows:

50% Must Haves

30% Wants

20% Savings (this would have saved his B*tt)

Message Edited by denbar2003 on 12-06-2007 09:06 AM

[MeganML84]

My sister had to break her lease a couple months ago and they gave her 30 days to pay all the fees so maybe that is an option for your son as well. Has he explained the situation to the leasing agent?

My bank will chargeoff an overdrawn account after 45 days, give or take (also depending upon the amount of the overdraft) and send the account to ChexSystems, of course YMMV. He definitely needs to call the bank though--mine charges $5 a day for every day that your account is in the negative. If his bank does the same thing it will get expensive FAST.

I'm sorry your son has fallen on hard times, and got stuck holding the bag b/c of his ex roomie. A similiar thing happened to me and now I have a collection on my report until 2011. One of the biggest reasons I will never have roommates again.

Good luck.

[Dawn]

---

MeganML84 wrote:

My sister had to break her lease a couple months ago and they gave her 30 days to pay all the fees so maybe that is an option for your son as well. Has he explained the situation to the leasing agent?

---

They know the situation, but he was doing good to just get the numbers yesterday.  I don't think they discussed the pay-out options (other than they refused to only hold him accountable for 1/2 ...which was expected.) If they will talk to me, I will call as soon as their office opens.  He asked me last night if I wanted to talk to them since he couldn't answer all my questions, and I think there may be options available to him that he hasn't thought about.

I will make sure he gets the bank account taken care of ASAP.  I was hoping to minimize any advances because I want him to be fully committed to making the sacrifices necessary to deal with all the day-to-day issues.  But .. I have his attention now ... as far as all the things we warned him about before he started this endeavor ... and he's listening now.  So ... a little help seems to be warranted, as long as he pays me back off the top ... before fun with his friends. 

[Sylviatob]

denbar, My heart goes out to you. It sounds like he ventured out before, he was ready. It happens all to often. It's a tough life lessen to be sure, but one that I pray will sink in and stick with him.

I hope he gets the jobs soon. And I agree, take care of the bank situation, before it gets out of hand.

Has he moved back home, or is that even an option?

Good luck to you....and him.

[Dawn]

---

Sylviatob wrote:
denbar, My heart goes out to you. It sounds like he ventured out before, he was ready. It happens all to often. It's a tough life lessen to be sure, but one that I pray will sink in and stick with him.

I hope he gets the jobs soon. And I agree, take care of the bank situation, before it gets out of hand.

Has he moved back home, or is that even an option?

Good luck to you....and him.

---

Thank you all for your compassion ... won't it be nice if all that energy somehow comes together to create a better good? 

Coming home is the current option if he really can't make this work  ... but not really a very good one ... unless a LOT of maturity has occurred over the past few months.  I see some signs ... but some of the old battles will still be there. 

[Boswd]

Has he been in contact with the landlord?    The worst thing he could do is not inform them of his situation,  if he hasn't he should ASAP,  they just may be willing to work something out.  

[Sylviatob]

Honey, trust me when I say, I am waging the same battle as you.....just on a different front.

Need I say welcome to adult parenthood! lol