What responsibility does the CC issuer have in giving unwarr

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 22:02
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My wife has CC debt 3X her income (Social Security only). She obtained this credit on her own and listing only her SS income. She has 3 different cards and at least two of them should never have been approved. She obviously has no chance of paying them off in her lifetime. I feel the issuers have taken advantage of her and are probably happy to take their interest only payments, leaving her with zero each month. Also obviously, she was not correct in running up these debts. What should we do?

I don't think blaming the CC issuer will help you

So really it depends on what state you live in and what kind accounts and assets you share. If this is a community property state then you will both be liable.

On the plus side they can't put a lien on her SSI.

If you default the cards, they may eventually come after both of you. You just have to decide what is possible.

After a few months the card companies may agree to settle the accounts for less.

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 23:34 Permalink

can you call a consolidation program, these programs are usually offered through a non profit and are available to people who are in your situation.

Can you tell us what city and state you are from and maybe we can help you find a program in your area to help you out.

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 02:49 Permalink

Hi Guest,

If you want to pay off the credit card debts, you have two options - debt consolidation and debt settlement. In debt consolidation, the interest rate gets lowered while in debt settlement, the outstanding debt amount gets lowered.

However, under Federal Law social security benefits cannot be garnished. On the other hand, if yours is a community property state, your wages or income or bank account may get garnished due to the debt incurred by your spouse. Thus, its better to settle and pay off the dues.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Aaron

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 09:14 Permalink