Any way to stop balance chasing?

[masscredit]

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. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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

[Loquat]

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@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. 

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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!

[Anonymous]

+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. 

[MrDFinance]

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...

[FireMedic1]

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.

[AverageJoesCredit]

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.

[CreditInspired]

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@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.

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So painfully true. 

[masscredit]

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@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.

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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.

[JoeLuvsHisCredit]

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@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. 

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SO SORRY OP                                                        JAG73 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.