My 86yr old Dad is no longer able to pay his credit card charges-unfortunately they are very large-$13,000 with a 25% interest rate. The money that was available for his payments will now be used for home health care. I called card co.(Sears) and explained the situation and said they could not negotiate until his bill was delinquent. What is the worst that can happen? Thanks for you time.
ANSWER:
Deborah,
The worst that can happen in your father’s case is that the credit card company could (but not usually) file and win a lawsuit against him and get a judgment. Credit card companies and collectors rarely filing lawsuits because of the expense, hassle and time that is involved in doing so, and with an 86 year old man it would probably be a waste of time.
If they do obtain a judgment, they would then either garnish bank accounts or wages (I’m assuming your dad is not employed) and could possibly try to put a lien against his home if he owns it. Then later if the home is sold, the lien would need to be paid.
There are instances in which creditors cannot garnish and those include payments by Social Security or SSI. Even part of the value of the homestead and some personal property are exempt from collection efforts.
I would suggest waiting a little bit and then contacting the credit card company again. If you do get behind in the payments, the creditor will most likely lower your rate as well as the payments in order to be able to collect at least part of the debt. Unfortunately, a lot of times credit card companies are more willing to work out an arrangement once the account has defaulted.
Hope this helps, good luck.
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