topic Re: Any way to stop balance chasing? in Credit Cards

Any way to stop balance chasing?

masscredit — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 03:17:22 GMT

A friend of mine is having some credit issues and now Synchrony is balance chasing her Walmart card. The problem with her credit is she co-signed for a car loan for her boyfriend a few years ago. He's been very vindictive after they broke up. There are 10 late payments on that car loan. 2 of them are in the 60-90 day range. One of those is recent. He brought the account current after the bank started the repo process. We looked at her credit reports a few days ago and found that Synchrony reduced her credit limit down to her balance. The only bad marks on her credit is this loan. Everything else is fine. Scores were in the 700s before all this happened.

She co-signed so I know she's responsible for the loan and take the credit hits if he doesn't pay. Is there anything that can be done so Synchrony and her other credit card companies don't keep doing this. Interesting note, she was approved for a Discover card with a $9500 limit a few months ago.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 03:24:54 GMT

All she can do is call them and explain the situation.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

Loquat — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 05:06:45 GMT

@masscredit wrote:
A friend of mine is having some credit issues and now Synchrony is balance chasing her Walmart card. The problem with her credit is she co-signed for a car loan for her boyfriend a few years ago. He's been very vindictive after they broke up. There are 10 late payments on that car loan. 2 of them are in the 60-90 day range. One of those is recent. He brought the account current after the bank started the repo process. We looked at her credit reports a few days ago and found that Synchrony reduced her credit limit down to her balance. The only bad marks on her credit is this loan. Everything else is fine. Scores were in the 700s before all this happened.

She co-signed so I know she's responsible for the loan and take the credit hits if he doesn't pay. Is there anything that can be done so Synchrony and her other credit card companies don't keep doing this. Interesting note, she was approved for a Discover card with a $9500 limit a few months ago.

In a word, No. Sorry OP for your friend but there really isn't anything that can be done to stop balance chasing once it starts other than the lender reducing the limit to a point where they feel comfortable. In some situations the balance chasing never stops; it continues until the account is paid then the lender closes it.

With what you've describerd, they're going to continue to do so and I wouldn't be shocked if other lenders join in. Remember, it's very rare that a human is making these decisions...probably a lot of algorithms that are taking action where there is perceived risk. And to be honest, even if there was human intervention, it would probably be the same or worse (meaning immediate closure rather than balance chasing).

Unfortunately OP, the bleeding is going to continue until Synchrony is comfortable or the account is eventually paid and closed. I'm not going to lecture about co-signing as we all know the risk involved. For your friend, I hope that the ex continues to at least make the payments and hopefully on time. The only true way stop this madness is for your friend (if she can) pay the loan herself and only then will this situation stop affecting her credit.

Best of luck to her!

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 05:31:04 GMT

+1 @Loquat

At this point in my life, the only people I’ll co-sign for is myself (😂) and my mother (her credit is better than mine).

But seriously, if there was ever a reason to co-sign for her, I’d pay the bill myself and let her repay me.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

MrDFinance — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 06:10:46 GMT

I co signed for my brother.... Car got repoed 6 months later and they started garnishing my wages... Good thing the loan company was filled with scumbags and I was able to dispute everything involved with that account off my report........ Neverrrrr again.... Except for me mum lol

As far as balance chasing goes ... You either pay off the balances and they slowly let you get back you limits over time or they chase you down to account closure.... Not much you can do when they make the decision to chase.... All you can do is hope they don't bring you to zero...

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

FireMedic1 — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 08:51:33 GMT

So many people do this and get the..well you know. People have a good heart to help and end up on the losing end. Shame. Sorry for your friend. Its like a K9 after a subject (balance chased). That dog wont stop until he gets his target. Live and learn I guess.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

AverageJoesCredit — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 13:59:28 GMT

Unfortunately we spend years building up our credit and all it takes is one mistake to make it fall. Hope the best for friend op. This is one reason not to cosign as the person who cares normally gets screwed if the other doesn't.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

CreditInspired — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 14:12:15 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Unfortunately we spend years building up our credit and all it takes is one mistake to make it fall. Hope the best for friend op. This is one reason not to cosign as the person who cares normally gets screwed if the other doesn't.

So painfully true.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

masscredit — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 14:30:51 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Unfortunately we spend years building up our credit and all it takes is one mistake to make it fall. Hope the best for friend op. This is one reason not to cosign as the person who cares normally gets screwed if the other doesn't.

Yup... her scores were in the 700s, no baddies on her reports, new job making good money and preparing to buy a house and replace her aging car. Then her ex hammered away at credit. I don't remember what her real scores are. We looked at her reports on Credit Karma a few days ago. Those scores dropped down to the 620s-630s. I'm going to have her check her TU score through Discover (that's slow to update) and EX score through the free score service they provide to everyone.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

JoeLuvsHisCredit — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 14:55:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
+1 @Loquat
At this point in my life, the only people I’ll co-sign for is myself (😂) and my mother (her credit is better than mine).
But seriously, if there was ever a reason to co-sign for her, I’d pay the bill myself and let her repay me.

You are VERY lucky to have a mother you can trust. I would only co sign for 2 of my best friends (we been best friends since 1992 and they have co sign for me at least 5 times). I wouldn't co sign for any of my family i know it's so sad. My mother has messed up my credit 3 times. She doesn't know my score is almost 800 again. I told her the last time when she used my credit I will put her in the jail if she does it again.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 14:43:58 GMT

The fact that someone needs a co-signer usually means one of two things, maybe both.

1. Their credit isn't very good

2. They're trying to buy something they can't really afford.

You should never co-sign for anyone unless you plan to make the payments yourself. ESPECIALLY, a boyfriend or girlfriend. Hopefully she can get this straightened out. Maybe she can convince him to refinance the loan to himself. Might be a long shot now, if he's even willing.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

masscredit — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 15:07:19 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
The fact that someone needs a co-signer usually means one of two things, maybe both.

1. Their credit isn't very good
2. They're trying to buy something they can't really afford.

You should never co-sign for anyone unless you plan to make the payments yourself. ESPECIALLY, a boyfriend or girlfriend. Hopefully she can get this straightened out. Maybe she can convince him to refinance the loan to himself. Might be a long shot now, if he's even willing.

She tried talking to him a few times. The car is upside down. It’s been beat with high mileage and is worth about $4K. The loan is down to $7100. He offered to let her have the car for $5000. That’s on top of the loan.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

NRB525 — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 16:45:54 GMT

How much is left to pay on the dirtbag’s car loan?

How much of a balance is she carrying on the WalMart card?
What other cards does she have?

If one Co-signs a loan, one needs to be prepared to take over payments to keep it current. That is an option here.

Paying off the WalMart card and using another, like Capital One that is less likely to pull AA should also be considered. The goal of a mortgage, however, is a challenge. This loan obligation would show up on a mortgage app anyhow, whether current or late, so as long as the loan is out there, it will have an impact.

And really, from the mortgage lender perspective, she agreed to an obligation and then did not meet it. That is what makes this so difficult to clear up.

Maybe small claims court is necessary? Legal advice for sure.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

masscredit — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 22:28:53 GMT

The loan is down to $7100. and the car is worth about $4000. Is credit is bad so he wouldn't be able to refi in his name. He wouldn't want to anyway. He's p*ssed off because he has to pay child support. He doesn't even pay the minimum that the guidelines suggest. This is going to change. I suggested she talk to an aggressive lawyer to take care of the child support and see if anything can be done with the car. I suggested the most aggressive lawyer I know. The one my ex used in our divorce.

Her Walmart card had a $1K limit. It's now down to her balance of $260.00. Funny thing is, last week I told her Synchrony can be very generous and suggested she work on getting CLIs on this and her JCP cards. I guess that's not going to happen. Her JCP limit hasn't changed. She has one, maybe two Cap 1 cards, recently was approved for a Discover card with a $9500 limit and maybe a few others. Don't remember what they are.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 00:09:42 GMT

Better to have a "Closed By Consumer" note than a "Closed By Creditor." If it hasn't been suggested, close it before they do. You can always apply again when this situation is resloved.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

gdale6 — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 00:19:04 GMT

Stop the lates is what has to happen. I would demand that he refi into his name alone or take the car from him and do with it whatever needs to be done.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

Cred4All — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 00:27:22 GMT

In the world of co-signing, she is literally as responsible for that debt 'the car' as he is. Regardless of personal circumstance, level of his stupidity, or amount of he said she said it doesn't hold any weight. To a court and to the banks, they share the debt until it's refinanced in only 1 persons name, or paid off in affect.

A few things that come to mind for me are that:

1. More than likely, she'll be paying this car off until it's just that, paid off.. which leads to the issue of who's car does it become.

2. Once paid off, if it becomes paid in full, more than likely both her name and his name are on the registration due to it being co-signed. I'm not sure of your state, but this makes both legal owners. This creates thought #3 in my mind:

3. Small Claims court depending on the value in the end.. since both are possibly 50% owner, she'll want to get (Again if this gets paid off) the equity out of the vehicle she paid into it, and possibly sue him for repayment of all that he defaulted on, causing her to pay for him.

No matter how you view this, plan this, or put the pieces together that you're missing... due to the legally binding contractual responsibility of her signature she's stuck between that rock and very very hard place like others have mentioned. She must do her financial best to stay in good graces of the bank for her own future well being. I would suspect there is no recourse on this until the vehicle changes names or is paid off, then that's when more legally could be pursued.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

masscredit — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 01:52:28 GMT

@gdale6 wrote:
Stop the lates is what has to happen. I would demand that he refi into his name alone or take the car from him and do with it whatever needs to be done.

The problem is her name isn't on the title or registration. She's just the co-signer so she can't take the car. He doesn't care what she wants. He won't refi in his name. He wants $5000 on top of the loan balance for her to take the car and take over the payments.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

masscredit — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 01:57:11 GMT

The current plan is to take him to court to have him start paying the full amount of child support that he should be. There is a good chance he'll stop making payments again after that so the extra money she'll be getting for child support will go towards making the car payment.

She was doing so good then something like this has dragged her down.

Re: Any way to stop balance chasing?

NRB525 — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 02:03:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Better to have a "Closed By Consumer" note than a "Closed By Creditor." If it hasn't been suggested, close it before they do. You can always apply again when this situation is resloved.

Not in my experience. I have several closed cards, including closed by lender to open a new account number, closed by lender after balance chasing, and closed by me to freeze terms on open balances. I have never noticed any difference in apps, no comments from banks asking about those closed by lender. A closed card is just no longer an obligation.

The advice to “act now to close the card before the lender does” turns up regularly here. It is not useful advice. Sorry, just being clear about it.

To OP, an attorney is the next step, as you seem to already know. Tough to hear about these situations. We all hope it turns out well for her.