What happens if a person doesn’t pay a credit card?
My friend has a house with some equity but she is deep in debt and does not want to do apply for gov. assistance. She borrowed money on a credit card but they pulled some things like not sending her a bill twice and raising her rates up to about 27%. anyway, she is going through an illness and other family problems and got to a point where she started paying very little then stopped. Now they want her to just pay it off & offerered producing 60% off None of us ever had debt so we do not know what to do. . . she can not get credit counseling of any kind because she is making no money So They will not help her. . . where can she get good advice. . . or she should borrow the money to pay off this card. . . . or oh, what happens if she does not pay it. . . any info. is appreciated. She is so stressed out I am worried about her help so please do not give an answer judging he for being stupid cause you do not know what happened. . . . if she pays the settlement will she have her credit ruined?. . . . what if she does not pay it. . . she had someone tell her she could have bad credit erased there is so much going on now. So, what role does that play Bankruptcy should she look into that and how does she cause she does not even have a lawyer or know anything about. Thanks. Actually she is, has so many problems that I have not mentioned so she could not have done anything and she has been in & out of the hospital for mental health reasons. So the bills have been hard for her to even think about. She has problems with other family members.
all of her stuff will be taken away by the bank and then she will be homeless and will have to move in with a family member or friend
Declaring bankruptcy is actually expensive to do. Depends on how much she owes on the card. Sounds like her credit is already screwed. The very worst the credit card people can do is file a civil suit which then she would go to court and they could make her pay, but if shes not bringing in any money I can’t see how they’d make her pay much. Most card companies will not do this unless you owe ALOT!
Anyone know whether the bill comes in or not, you know you need to pay it monthly, There is no “if I do not see it, I do not owe” clause. No one forced her to keep spending till she was in over her head.
Best thing she can do, is talk the credit company, lay the cards on the table and deal with it. If she has to sell the house for the equity value, so be it.
Seems to me, having bad credit is the least of her worries, she is about to lose her house. She should had made changes earlier before it got so bad.
Bankruptcy will definitely ruin her credit. Her credit is already severely damaged, and will take years to recover whether or not she pays the settlement. However, it will be worse with a bankruptcy than with the settlement.
They send big italian guys to your house.
They won’t be making a social call u know what i mean?
If you don’t pay the credit card payments, the debt will move to the companies collection group (likely already there in this case). At that point, they could either get serious and go after the debt in court or sell it to some agency (with even less ethical tactics). The new agency will try to collect and may end up selling it to a third, even more scummy company. If at any point an agency takes it to court (and it’s likely, since she has a house with equity) she can either try and settle (if she can pay) or go the bankruptcy route.
With bankruptcy, assuming minimal assets and income (sounds like that’s the case) she’ll have the debt discharged. She’ll keep the house, personal property, etc., and the debt will disappear If she has a car loan, she can reaffirm and keep it as well (assuming she’s making the payments).
But it would be much better to avoid the bankruptcy route and try and settle the debt at a lower amount.
As to “credit counseling,” most are scams and she’ll end up more broke and worse off than before she started — she’s lucky she couldn’t afford them.
You failed to mention the crucial factor of how much money does she owe. She probably cannot, and should not, borrow more money to pay off her present debt. If she can afford to pay it now, out of her savings, that MIGHT be a good idea, but that depends on her equity, the amount of value of her home, and many other things. $7,500.00 worth of equity in real estate is exempt in bankruptcy, and there are a few other exemptions, for essentials of life like a cheap car, a little cash, etc., and these vary from state to state, under federal bankruptcy law.
You should not ever try to ask for information to help someone else solve a problem, because you will be unable to answer these nitty-gritty questions. Pray for your friend’s recovery from her mental problems. One thing at a time, first things first. Trust God, ask for help, do the next proper thing. Maybe even write to me privately.
If she has few resources besides her house she should apply for assistance with the Social Service Dept. They can also provide credit counseling and refer her to Legal Services. Now is no time to be proud, because under her circumstances that’s giving in to evil. In NY people on Welfare receive Medicare, can keep their house< But if they die the State takes over, round $600 a month for living and meals plus food stamps. Never give up hope. PS The person loses their credit for 7 years after bankruptcy Under the Bush regime they managed to make credit and bankruptcy options much harder, so we should also fight to loosen them up. It’s an imprtant consumer issue.
it could effect the person getting work in the future finding a place to live buying a car bad credit is a problem that should be dealt with as quickly as possible. If you do not and you let your credit go bad it can make your life miserable in many ways
I don’t know. That’s a really scary thing to think about. I guess if you don’t pay your credit cards, then they can jack up the interests and then send debt collectors to garnish people’s wages. This is why I think people should have maybe a $500 limit on credit card bills. Those things are a recipe for disaster. I cut all my credit cards.