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?