My mom signed up with a company to help pay off her 26,thousand dollar credit card debt which they told her instead of paying that amount she would be paying 10 thousand less so after they took over 5 thousand dollars from her checking account that she could have used that to pay off two of the credit cards I found your website and sent certified letters to the company threatening to call the state attorney general,better business bureau,federal trade commission ,and my local tv station.
Well they returned the whole amount to my mom thank you. So now this is my question.
My mom is 77 years old she takes care of my mentally handicapped sister,she is a widow and she did a reverse mortgage now that they refunded the money back how do I go about helping her to get these credit card bills paid off there is no way she can pay them she dosent even have a savings account all she has is a checking account with 2,700.iin it I am in the process of getting power of attorney so I can speak on her behalf as she is starting to forget alot of things. One credit card is sears for 1,900 home depot 2,000 the other 2 are hsbc 10,000 and 13,00 can you please advise me thank you marespin I appreciate it.
Marespin
Hi Marespin,
Are there assets you mother has that would prevent her from filing chapter 7 bankruptcy? How much equity is there in the home? What state does she live in?
Speak to a local bankruptcy attorney and find out the benefits and drawbacks involved if your mom were to file a chapter 7. The reverse mortgage being part of her income and the equity will be the first hurdle to look at clearing.
If chapter 7 would lead to complications that are better avoided, settling credit card debt is common.
When were the last payments made to the creditors you listed above?
If the full 5k was refunded from the company, is it available now in order to start funding settlements? If so, can you pull additional money together? What period of time would it take you to come up with an additional 4k more?