topic Re: Close my Duck Card? in Credit Cards

Close my Duck Card?

Ravensfan2001 — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 23:44:05 GMT

I'm not sure if I'm on the right board for this topic, but here it goes...

I did something really stupid, but I didn't know what else to do. I have a family friend that I grew up with who's like a sister to me. She was in a bind, a really bad one, and I let her use $1k on my card to pay something off for her. She told me she would pay at least $100 a month until it was paid off. I had no reason not to trust her. This was in June.

I got into my own financial problems, and my credit cards actually helped me put food on the table. We maxed out some cards, but everything for my family is getting better. My credit score is hurting, but I have a plan and things should get better by the spring.

She was paying until September, when she was in the hospital. She's in her 30's and is having major heart surgery next month. I didn't realize that she wasn't paying until today. Since I'm having problems myself, the card that I let her used slipped through the cracks. I texted her on the due date (12/1/14) and asked if she paid. She said she would pay that Friday. So I let it go those few days. She can pay the late charge.

When I actually logged into my account, I realized that she hasn't been paying. Last payment was September. So I asked her today to pay it. She said something about the banks being closed and she would ask her husband to pay it, blah, blah, blah. I went ahead and made a payment today.

I told her I made the payment and kindly asked her to let me know if she can't make the payment by the due date. Of course, she promised to. Then she got into her health issues, saying that she may have to move out of her apartment because she's going to be out of work for more than a month.

What's hurting is that OCCU reported the 30 day late. It's my first derog since I improved my credit last year. Things were going so well. We bought a house last September, and since then, DH and I have been approved for prime cards. He was out of work for 3 months due to an injury, and didn't get paid for those 3 months until 5 months later. So that was our issue. Otherwise, we're doing okay financially.

My question is... should I just close that account? I don't have the funds right now to pay it off, especially since it's Christmas season. The $1k limit is my lowest limit card, and although my utilization will go up, it won't go up that much. I asked my friend to pay it off by February. She said yes, but we'll see. She does have my credit card information and can access my account online. If I don't close my account, I was going to pay it off in March if she hasn't. Then report my card as lost, so I don't keep the same account number.

Any suggestions what I should do about the credit card would help. I really don't want to hear criticism on the situation. I already know what I should have done. Shoot me now.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Ron1 — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 23:49:31 GMT

Sorry to hear. You should call OCCU to explain your problem. They might be able to setup your payment plan to payoff the bill.

Hope it helps.

Ron.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 23:59:45 GMT

@Ravensfan2001 wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm on the right board for this topic, but here it goes...

I did something really stupid, but I didn't know what else to do. I have a family friend that I grew up with who's like a sister to me. She was in a bind, a really bad one, and I let her use $1k on my card to pay something off for her. She told me she would pay at least $100 a month until it was paid off. I had no reason not to trust her. This was in June.

I got into my own financial problems, and my credit cards actually helped me put food on the table. We maxed out some cards, but everything for my family is getting better. My credit score is hurting, but I have a plan and things should get better by the spring.

She was paying until September, when she was in the hospital. She's in her 30's and is having major heart surgery next month. I didn't realize that she wasn't paying until today. Since I'm having problems myself, the card that I let her used slipped through the cracks. I texted her on the due date (12/1/14) and asked if she paid. She said she would pay that Friday. So I let it go those few days. She can pay the late charge.

When I actually logged into my account, I realized that she hasn't been paying. Last payment was September. So I asked her today to pay it. She said something about the banks being closed and she would ask her husband to pay it, blah, blah, blah. I went ahead and made a payment today.

I told her I made the payment and kindly asked her to let me know if she can't make the payment by the due date. Of course, she promised to. Then she got into her health issues, saying that she may have to move out of her apartment because she's going to be out of work for more than a month.

What's hurting is that OCCU reported the 30 day late. It's my first derog since I improved my credit last year. Things were going so well. We bought a house last September, and since then, DH and I have been approved for prime cards. He was out of work for 3 months due to an injury, and didn't get paid for those 3 months until 5 months later. So that was our issue. Otherwise, we're doing okay financially.

My question is... should I just close that account? I don't have the funds right now to pay it off, especially since it's Christmas season. The $1k limit is my lowest limit card, and although my utilization will go up, it won't go up that much. I asked my friend to pay it off by February. She said yes, but we'll see. She does have my credit card information and can access my account online. If I don't close my account, I was going to pay it off in March if she hasn't. Then report my card as lost, so I don't keep the same account number.

Any suggestions what I should do about the credit card would help. I really don't want to hear criticism on the situation. I already know what I should have done. Shoot me now.

What do you hope to gain by closing it? Closing it with an outstanding balance might impact your score, as you lose the CL but keep the balance. Are you concerned that she might make more charges (as her situation sounds pretty bad)? First off, I would change your password online, so she no longer has access, and ask her to pay you directly (then you would quickly know whether things are getting paid or not.) If you think she might charge more, tell the ccc that the information has been compromised (or card lost if you find that easier) and get a new number.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Ravensfan2001 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 00:07:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Ravensfan2001 wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm on the right board for this topic, but here it goes...

I did something really stupid, but I didn't know what else to do. I have a family friend that I grew up with who's like a sister to me. She was in a bind, a really bad one, and I let her use $1k on my card to pay something off for her. She told me she would pay at least $100 a month until it was paid off. I had no reason not to trust her. This was in June.

I got into my own financial problems, and my credit cards actually helped me put food on the table. We maxed out some cards, but everything for my family is getting better. My credit score is hurting, but I have a plan and things should get better by the spring.

She was paying until September, when she was in the hospital. She's in her 30's and is having major heart surgery next month. I didn't realize that she wasn't paying until today. Since I'm having problems myself, the card that I let her used slipped through the cracks. I texted her on the due date (12/1/14) and asked if she paid. She said she would pay that Friday. So I let it go those few days. She can pay the late charge.

When I actually logged into my account, I realized that she hasn't been paying. Last payment was September. So I asked her today to pay it. She said something about the banks being closed and she would ask her husband to pay it, blah, blah, blah. I went ahead and made a payment today.

I told her I made the payment and kindly asked her to let me know if she can't make the payment by the due date. Of course, she promised to. Then she got into her health issues, saying that she may have to move out of her apartment because she's going to be out of work for more than a month.

What's hurting is that OCCU reported the 30 day late. It's my first derog since I improved my credit last year. Things were going so well. We bought a house last September, and since then, DH and I have been approved for prime cards. He was out of work for 3 months due to an injury, and didn't get paid for those 3 months until 5 months later. So that was our issue. Otherwise, we're doing okay financially.

My question is... should I just close that account? I don't have the funds right now to pay it off, especially since it's Christmas season. The $1k limit is my lowest limit card, and although my utilization will go up, it won't go up that much. I asked my friend to pay it off by February. She said yes, but we'll see. She does have my credit card information and can access my account online. If I don't close my account, I was going to pay it off in March if she hasn't. Then report my card as lost, so I don't keep the same account number.

Any suggestions what I should do about the credit card would help. I really don't want to hear criticism on the situation. I already know what I should have done. Shoot me now.
What do you hope to gain by closing it? Closing it with an outstanding balance might impact your score, as you lose the CL but keep the balance. Are you concerned that she might make more charges (as her situation sounds pretty bad)? First off, I would change your password online, so she no longer has access, and ask her to pay you directly (then you would quickly know whether things are getting paid or not.) If you think she might charge more, tell the ccc that the information has been compromised (or card lost if you find that easier) and get a new number.

I don't even know what I want to do. I'm just so mad that it's reported on my credit. I'm mad at my friend for not paying on time. And I'm mad at myself for letting her use the card.

I was researching OCCU, and it looks like they don't respond well to GW letters. I'm going to try it, anyway, but I want the balance paid off first.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Gunnar419 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 00:07:21 GMT

@Ron1 wrote:
Sorry to hear. You should call OCCU to explain your problem. They might be able to setup your payment plan to payoff the bill.

Hope it helps.

Ron.

I agree with Ron. Keep the card open if you possibly can. Closing it won't help you in any way. Obviously you'll still owe the money, still have the lates on your record and so on. MAYBE OCCU will take one or more lates off if you explain the situation to them, but unlikely they'll remove them all.

No matter what her health problems, your friend should have been upfront and honest with you after the huge favor you did her. It's understandable that she ran into problems making payments, but it's inexcusable that she just stiffed you that way without even a thanks or a sorry.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

taxi818 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:32:58 GMT

I understand the kindness. but wow. you did not make sure your payments were being made? and if friend went in hospital. i would not sweat about making payments. even if i was hurting myself. this is crazy. just tell the friend. whenever you can. pay me. and just make payments yourself. i hope occu will give you a little break.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:45:34 GMT

This is why I don't lend ANYONE my CC's.

Try to keep the account open. It'll do you NO good to close it with a balance.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

NRB525 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:48:53 GMT

Sorry to hear about all the difficulties.

A framing statement first: Any personal loan you make to friends or family should be considered "lost money", you must enter the agreement prepared to lose that money and never see it again, and any repayment is a bonus. Otherwise you damage the relationship when things like this go sideways. Having stated my opinion, you owe the $1,000 (or current balance) to OCCU. Just own it.

Next, close the account. It is your lowest limit account, you obviously are not using the card, and to prevent any new charges, close it now. Your friend may get the urge to whip out the plastic "just one more time" and there you go.

You will not lose any of the credit history by closing it. I have two closed accounts with balances, I closed them because the CCC changed the interest rate terms and I had permanent rates which I found useful, so told them to close the account, I will pay it off according to the existing terms. These accounts still are on my credit report as closed, with the old limits and current balances. The CCC can do some CLD the available "credit line", but my experience is that they keep the CL high enough that your apparent utilization is not too bad, but more importantly they will prevent any new charges from being made to add to the open balance. That is what you should do, in an actual hard copy letter sent to the OCCU offices. Not a phone call, not an email, a letter. Old school.

Next, start moving your budget around to start paying down this $1,000 on your own. Christmas? what's that? It just became low priority. Sorry, thems the facts.

You want to work through this to maintain YOUR credit, and try to get some payment out of your friend, but given her situation, that seems like not a reasonable expectation, thus my recommendation that you just own the debt now.

Good luck!

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:50:04 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
Sorry to hear about all the difficulties.

A framing statement first: Any personal loan you make to friends or family should be considered "lost money", you must enter the agreement prepared to lose that money and never see it again, and any repayment is a bonus. Otherwise you damage the relationship when things like this go sideways. Having stated my opinion, you owe the $1,000 (or current balance) to OCCU. Just own it.

Next, close the account. It is your lowest limit account, you obviously are not using the card, and to prevent any new charges, close it now. Your friend may get the urge to whip out the plastic "just one more time" and there you go.

You will not lose any of the credit history by closing it. I have two closed accounts with balances, I closed them because the CCC changed the interest rate terms and I had permanent rates which I found useful, so told them to close the account, I will pay it off according to the existing terms. These accounts still are on my credit report as closed, with the old limits and current balances. The CCC can do some CLD the available "credit line", but my experience is that they keep the CL high enough that your apparent utilization is not too bad, but more importantly they will prevent any new charges from being made to add to the open balance. That is what you should do, in an actual hard copy letter sent to the OCCU offices. Not a phone call, not an email, a letter. Old school.

Next, start moving your budget around to start paying down this $1,000 on your own. Christmas? what's that? It just became low priority. Sorry, thems the facts.

You want to work through this to maintain YOUR credit, and try to get some payment out of your friend, but given her situation, that seems like not a reasonable expectation, thus my recommendation that you just own the debt now.

Good luck!

I wouldn't close it, but I WOULD report it lost and get a new account number for sure.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

NRB525 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 01:59:14 GMT

reporting it lost confuses the situation too much. OP knows exactly where the card is.

In general, one does not want to close a card just on a whim. This is a situation that calls for closing the card completely. You then get the CU on your side to prevent any new charges, prevent any "My friend gave me this card and now it doesn't work" issues later.

My opinion.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:02:47 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
reporting it lost confuses the situation too much. OP knows exactly where the card is.

In general, one does not want to close a card just on a whim. This is a situation that calls for closing the card completely. You then get the CU on your side to prevent any new charges, prevent any "My friend gave me this card and now it doesn't work" issues later.

My opinion.

I respect your opinion, I suppose you're right on the he said/she said dialogue.

However, the OP should BT this cards balance onto another card and THEN close it out if this is the way they take.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Gunnar419 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:05:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wouldn't close it, but I WOULD report it lost and get a new account number for sure.

Nixon is right. When I said earlier that you gain nothing by closing it, I didn't think that your deadbeat friend still had the card in her possession. As long as she's got it, your credit is in even worse peril.

If she does have it, definitely do as Nixon suggests. No need to close the account, but make sure she can't use it.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

NRB525 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:14:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
reporting it lost confuses the situation too much. OP knows exactly where the card is.

In general, one does not want to close a card just on a whim. This is a situation that calls for closing the card completely. You then get the CU on your side to prevent any new charges, prevent any "My friend gave me this card and now it doesn't work" issues later.

My opinion.
I respect your opinion, I suppose you're right on the he said/she said dialogue.

However, the OP should BT this cards balance onto another card and THEN close it out if this is the way they take.

That is a legitimate sequence to follow if it can be done quckly. I, from personal experience, know that there is no penalty to closing an account with an existing balance. The BT can be done also after the account is closed to new charges. I just BT'd some funds off one of my closed accounts a month ago, after the account had been closed for 5 years or so, continuing to make payments on it, and I'm still making payments on a balance I chose to leave on that account just to keep making payments on it to see how it relates to the rest of my score.

The key is to close the account. Soon.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:14:45 GMT

@Ravensfan2001 wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm on the right board for this topic, but here it goes...

I did something really stupid, but I didn't know what else to do. I have a family friend that I grew up with who's like a sister to me. She was in a bind, a really bad one, and I let her use $1k on my card to pay something off for her. She told me she would pay at least $100 a month until it was paid off. I had no reason not to trust her. This was in June.

I got into my own financial problems, and my credit cards actually helped me put food on the table. We maxed out some cards, but everything for my family is getting better. My credit score is hurting, but I have a plan and things should get better by the spring.

She was paying until September, when she was in the hospital. She's in her 30's and is having major heart surgery next month. I didn't realize that she wasn't paying until today. Since I'm having problems myself, the card that I let her used slipped through the cracks. I texted her on the due date (12/1/14) and asked if she paid. She said she would pay that Friday. So I let it go those few days. She can pay the late charge.

When I actually logged into my account, I realized that she hasn't been paying. Last payment was September. So I asked her today to pay it. She said something about the banks being closed and she would ask her husband to pay it, blah, blah, blah. I went ahead and made a payment today.

I told her I made the payment and kindly asked her to let me know if she can't make the payment by the due date. Of course, she promised to. Then she got into her health issues, saying that she may have to move out of her apartment because she's going to be out of work for more than a month.

What's hurting is that OCCU reported the 30 day late. It's my first derog since I improved my credit last year. Things were going so well. We bought a house last September, and since then, DH and I have been approved for prime cards. He was out of work for 3 months due to an injury, and didn't get paid for those 3 months until 5 months later. So that was our issue. Otherwise, we're doing okay financially.

My question is... should I just close that account? I don't have the funds right now to pay it off, especially since it's Christmas season. The $1k limit is my lowest limit card, and although my utilization will go up, it won't go up that much. I asked my friend to pay it off by February. She said yes, but we'll see. She does have my credit card information and can access my account online. If I don't close my account, I was going to pay it off in March if she hasn't. Then report my card as lost, so I don't keep the same account number.

Any suggestions what I should do about the credit card would help. I really don't want to hear criticism on the situation. I already know what I should have done. Shoot me now.

Do pay it down and then close it. Some times, friends and family need tough love when it comes to money. Your credit profile that you have worked hard to build should not be taking likely. I know you were trying to help and thats nice, but it has turned into a major headache. Pay down and close as the longer you wait, the longer is going to get worse.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

credithappy — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 03:04:23 GMT

@Ravensfan2001 wrote:
I'm not sure if I'm on the right board for this topic, but here it goes...

I did something really stupid, but I didn't know what else to do. I have a family friend that I grew up with who's like a sister to me. She was in a bind, a really bad one, and I let her use $1k on my card to pay something off for her. She told me she would pay at least $100 a month until it was paid off. I had no reason not to trust her. This was in June.

I got into my own financial problems, and my credit cards actually helped me put food on the table. We maxed out some cards, but everything for my family is getting better. My credit score is hurting, but I have a plan and things should get better by the spring.

She was paying until September, when she was in the hospital. She's in her 30's and is having major heart surgery next month. I didn't realize that she wasn't paying until today. Since I'm having problems myself, the card that I let her used slipped through the cracks. I texted her on the due date (12/1/14) and asked if she paid. She said she would pay that Friday. So I let it go those few days. She can pay the late charge.

When I actually logged into my account, I realized that she hasn't been paying. Last payment was September. So I asked her today to pay it. She said something about the banks being closed and she would ask her husband to pay it, blah, blah, blah. I went ahead and made a payment today.

I told her I made the payment and kindly asked her to let me know if she can't make the payment by the due date. Of course, she promised to. Then she got into her health issues, saying that she may have to move out of her apartment because she's going to be out of work for more than a month.

What's hurting is that OCCU reported the 30 day late. It's my first derog since I improved my credit last year. Things were going so well. We bought a house last September, and since then, DH and I have been approved for prime cards. He was out of work for 3 months due to an injury, and didn't get paid for those 3 months until 5 months later. So that was our issue. Otherwise, we're doing okay financially.

My question is... should I just close that account? I don't have the funds right now to pay it off, especially since it's Christmas season. The $1k limit is my lowest limit card, and although my utilization will go up, it won't go up that much. I asked my friend to pay it off by February. She said yes, but we'll see. She does have my credit card information and can access my account online. If I don't close my account, I was going to pay it off in March if she hasn't. Then report my card as lost, so I don't keep the same account number.

Any suggestions what I should do about the credit card would help. I really don't want to hear criticism on the situation. I already know what I should have done. Shoot me now.

I am so sorry that this happen to you, for being a nice person in helping a friend in need. If i was you i would not close the CC. I would call the credit card company and change my account number and account access online so she will not be able to gain access into your account. If you cannot afford to paid a lot on the CC just paid the minimum fee due every month until it is paid off. I hope this helps.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Ravensfan2001 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:12:43 GMT

I appreciate everyone's advice, although I'm still confused on what I should do. Just to clarify, she does NOT have the card. She has access to my online account so she could pay it herself. An easy solution to that is change the password, which I did. I don't have a card to BT to right now. I already told her to give the payments to me, and I will pay the card. I just want that part of my credit life over with. I already counted it as a loss.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

NRB525 — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:18:40 GMT

Ok, that changes things. Just continue to pay it down. You have control of the card. What I suggested regarding closing presumed you did not have the card.

This will be simpler to manage down.

Good luck to you, and to your friend. No one wants health issues.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:53:29 GMT

The few people here telling you to close the card and the one person insisting you do are giving you bad advice. Just change the card number, which isn't a big deal. You don't even need to say it's lost but you just want to change the number. Do as Nixon said and keep it open but change number.

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 18:20:50 GMT

I don't really have any advice besides asking your friend to pay you so you know when it gets paid and how much. With all of your friends health issues if she was unable to make the payments since September then with everything coming up with her and her surgery I would definitely ask if she can pay you that way you know she's not paying.

I am so sorry you had to go through this. When letting a friend borrow money we want to trust that will pay back and I agree we feel like we should have no reason not to trust them. Whether sick or not your friend should of handled the situation a lot better then just not paying since September

I have read all of your posts when I first joined here and you inspire me. I joined here not to long ago and seen one of your post and started reading all of your post from there. The way you rebuilt your credit (and your husbands) to buy a house is amazing. Congrats on your accomplishments and even though this might set you back a little you can get it taken care of. You have done this before and you can get it done again

Re: Close my Duck Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 14:47:02 GMT

I'm sorry this happened to you. If you're feeling kind in the future, I'm sure you'll pay off the card yourself and have the friend give you cash going forwards.

If she doesn't have a card to make charges on, there really isn't much of an issue. You changed the password, so the friend has to go through you to make payments. I think the next step would be to pay off as much of the debt as you can right away (today, if possible), so that you don't get any more lates. Consider it a good faith effort to solve the problem.

I'm not sure about the GW aspect. You should absolutely try, both via phone and paper letter, to GW the late away. The immediate payment may help with this, although it may not. The part that concerns me is that I suspect that a CCC is going to be unwilling to extend GW to what amounts to fraud, in that they issued the card to you, and you permitted somebody who wouldn't otherwise have been able to get the card to use it. Since you're owning the debt, it's not "go to jail" fraud, but I would think that it would look bad, from the CCC's perspective. Still, there is no harm to trying. Worst case, they shut the card down, which is what you were contemplating anyway.

Good luck with this ordeal. One late is not the be-all and end-all. It'll sting for a little while, but I doubt it will have anywhere near the effect of the BKs and tax liens you see other members (including me) have on their lists. Just bite the bullet, get this one under control, and everything will be okay.