Terrell
“Dear Steve,
2 1/2 years ago my car broke and I made the mistake of charging car rentals to get back and forth to work on my credit card. A $1500 debt climbed to over $4000 within 2 months. Up until January of this year I was able to make the payments. At that point the payments climbed to $180 and I was unemployed and broke.
I have made a 2 or 3 $100 payments in the last few months on that card. Two other smaller credit cards in the amounts of $1200 and $500 respectively also have climbed in monthly payments. I just started a new job and have no doubt about making the payments on the two smaller cards but I’m sure the interest on the larger one is outrageous by now. It’s tied to my bank account and every time I make a deposit the credit card sucks it up.
I’m considering letting the big debt go delinquent. Will letting that one card go delinquent kill my credit? Should I get the debts consolidated? I’m at a loss of what to do at this point. Please help.
Terrell”
Dear Terrell,
I’m not sure I can see any advantage to the plan you proposed. If you are late and delinquent on one debt it will drag your credit score down and probably lead to higher interest rates on your other cards.
But with the way your bank account is setup, it sounds like to go delinquent on that big balance card you’d need to change banks and open a new bank account so they stop draining you each time you make a deposit. Your current bank sounds like it might be a credit union.
With a total of about $6,000 in credit card debt, if you enrolled in a debt management or credit counseling program your monthly payment for all debts would be around $120 per month. If that sounds like something you can do and keep up, then contact a debt management company. They may also be able to reduce your interest rates as well.
If that does not sound like a payment plan you can do then you’re probably looking at a more aggressive solution like bankruptcy. Talk to a debt management company and let me know, in the comments section, if what they propose to you sounds reasonable.
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Hi, I plan to file bankruptcy and I have a loan on a car through my credit union. I am primary on the loan and my daughter is the co-applicant on the loan. I am not adding that to the bankruptcy, just listing as my debt, but I will continue to make payments. I only owe $3500.00 on it. My attorney advised me to still open an account with another bank. I set up a CD account for my daughter in her name a few years back with the same bank I bank at. Even though payments will continue be paid, my attorney said that the bank may decide to try to get all of their money for fear that I will not pay. Can the bank take my daughters CD account?
Marie,
Any debts with your name on them will have to be listed in your bankruptcy however you can attempt to make an arrangement with the bank to continue to pay the debt. What is the loan for?
I’m confused about the CD, are you on that account as well or is it just in your daughters name?
Steve