I will try and make a long story short.
I am at the end of my rebuild. Like most rebuilders I didn't pay attention to my credit when I couldn't make ends meet. I currently have ONE baddie left to drop off my CRs.
DW on the other hand has never messed up until now. She had a joint credit card from US Bank with her ex-husband that he did not close at the time of the divorce. He paid it off then but continued to use it. She was not paying attention to her credit because she always was able to obtain credit with good interest rates when ever she needed it. After we got married and I was working on my rebuild I started watching her credit as well as my own. That is when this joint account came to light. At that point there was a minimal balance and he was PIF every month. DW did not want to deal with it then. That was the mistake, because of the next couple of years he basicly maxed out a $19K card. He was still paying much more than the minimum but he was still using the card so he didn't make any headway on the balance.
Finally DW asked him to see about either having her removed from the account (we already knew US Bank wouldn't do that), paying off the balance or transfering the balance, and then closing the account. He said he would, but never did anyting. So she sent him another letter asking the same thing and telling him that if he didn't do anything she would close the account and that she expected him to keep making payments. You can guess what happened. She closed the account and he stopped making payments.
Her scores were in the 810s before he maxed out the card, they dropped to the 760s when he maxed it out, and now that there is a 90 day late showing she is in the 690s.
All of that being said my question is when and how low will her score bottom out? I would expect that to be when the account is charged off and a collections account is placed on her report.
Once her scores bottom out, I am not sure what we can do to help her other than wait for 7 years. She has other credit cards, installment loans, a mortgate, etc. They are all paid on time with low util. Unless her ex pays off the debt there is no chance of goodwill, and we will not pay his $19K debt.
Was she just an authorized user, or did they have a joint checking/savings account and applied for the card together? I don't know how those things work... I always thought you could just be an authorized user on someone else's card.
If that's the case, then all she has to do is write a letter to the bank requesting that they remove her as an authorized user. I had to do the same thing with my dad when I was an authorized user on his account. I don't know US Banks policy on that, but I'm sure if she were to call in and explain the situation, they could come up with a resolution, or does it ABSOLUTELY HAVE to be the card holder that requests the removal?
@Queen_Etherea wrote:Was she just an authorized user, or did they have a joint checking/savings account and applied for the card together? I don't know how those things work... I always thought you could just be an authorized user on someone else's card.
If that's the case, then all she has to do is write a letter to the bank requesting that they remove her as an authorized user. I had to do the same thing with my dad when I was an authorized user on his account. I don't know US Banks policy on that, but I'm sure if she were to call in and explain the situation, they could come up with a resolution, or does it ABSOLUTELY HAVE to be the card holder that requests the removal?
She is a joint account holder not an AU. As far as US Bank is concerned it is her debt. She tried disputing before she closed it and as expected US Bank verified it as accurate.
It is true most banks don't do credit cards as joint accounts ant longer this is a 23 year old account and was opened as a joint account. Due to that fact US Bank doesn't care who made the charges or what the divorce agreement says. As far as the divorce agreement goes it simply said he was responsible for marital debt.
Mid to Low 600s is probably what you can look forward to, since it is just one account racking up the derogatories, and it sounds like there are multiple other positive accounts.
Each of them is fully responsible for the debt, the bank isn't going to be nice, they don't care about the divorce or hurting peoples feelings. Action was taken too late to close the account, which is presumably the only way to prevent her being held responsible for what would be done with it. The ex doesn't seem to able/willing to deal with it, or is just being spiteful, so you'll probably get stuck dealing with collectors calls etc for years too.
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@MakingProgress wrote:
@Queen_Etherea wrote:Was she just an authorized user, or did they have a joint checking/savings account and applied for the card together? I don't know how those things work... I always thought you could just be an authorized user on someone else's card.
If that's the case, then all she has to do is write a letter to the bank requesting that they remove her as an authorized user. I had to do the same thing with my dad when I was an authorized user on his account. I don't know US Banks policy on that, but I'm sure if she were to call in and explain the situation, they could come up with a resolution, or does it ABSOLUTELY HAVE to be the card holder that requests the removal?
She is a joint account holder not an AU. As far as US Bank is concerned it is her debt. She tried disputing before she closed it and as expected US Bank verified it as accurate.
It is true most banks don't do credit cards as joint accounts ant longer this is a 23 year old account and was opened as a joint account. Due to that fact US Bank doesn't care who made the charges or what the divorce agreement says. As far as the divorce agreement goes it simply said he was responsible for marital debt.
If the divorce agreement says he is responsible for marital debt, shouldn’t you be able to send that to the the CRAs and have them remove the account? Legally she’s been deemed not responsible for this debt, that should apply to the credit reporting as well.
Best of luck, that’s a really unfortunate situation.
No, legally she is responsible, that is the problem.
The only thing divorce agreement would be helpful is civil litigation.
Ugh, I’m never getting married or mixing my finances.
Sorry that you and DW have to deal with this MP 
