“Dear Steve,
My mother took out credit cards in her name so that I could use them as long as I made the monthly payments. I declared bankruptcy three years ago so obtaining credit was difficult. The problem is that I lost my job and I am unable to continue paying on these.
I do not want to ruin my mother’s credit as she always had excellent credit nor do I think it is fair for her to be held responsible for this. Is there a way that the credit card issuers would take the liability off of her and put these in my name and social security number? She was aware of the cards but not that I was not paying on them so this is not an issue of identity theft. One card has already been charged off and bought by a colection agency.
Thank you,
Sheryl”
The Answer:
Dear Sheryl,
The problem here is that it’s not your debt. The debt on the cards in your mother’s name is her debt. Any agreement or arrangement between you and your mother to allow you to use the cards is between the two of you and not the creditor.
I have never seen a case when a creditor would allow someone with inferior credit to take over a debt. It’s time to have an honest conversation with your mother. This has already hurt her credit.
If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.