My mother needs help with a £20k Debt

heatherw_01

I have just found out that my 62 year old mother has somehow got a £20k debt on credit cards. I only found out from a friend of hers that phoned me as she has been too frightened or ashamed to call me about this. She is on a low income only working part time as a cleaner for 3 different companies.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that she has let a neighbour buy things using her credit card with the promise that he would pay her back later. He has paid little or nothing back at all to her. The neighbour in question is the agent for the landlord in the flats that she lives in (i.e. the person she is paying rent to). She is scared that if she complains too much to him about the cash that she might be evicted and be homeless. She does not have a rent book and is continually moved between the landlords other flats. She has moved twice this year alone.

As this debt is really not hers but she has allowed the use of the card, I do not know how to proceed. I know she has bought cookers/fridges/televisons and washers for him and that those possessions are in his flat. Is there a way to prove that these are his property and therefore get him to pay off the portion of the debt that is obviously his? What would the best approach to the landlords agent be? She needs to be sure that her tenancy is not in doubt as she has no written tenancy agreements.

I am going to see her next week to iron out the exact problems and to get as much information from her as I can. I am not 100% sure of what information to ask her for though. Obviously credit card statements and any information regarding the purchases. I also will try and find out how much her current income and outgoings are.

Any help or advice would be gratefully recieved

Thanks in advance

fast_track

I think that you should alert the credit card company and go to the police. Any action that the landlord takes against her would be illegal I would say. I would also aproach your local authority - she may well have good grounds for rehousing somewhere permanent as she is clearly vulnerable. Good luck - I hope this neighbour goes to jail for a very long time for what he has done

delboypass

If these items have been bought on her credit cards - they are actually owned by her unless gifted. All warranties etc will be in her name as will be the repayments if any are due.

I.e. If baliffs turned up tomorrow, they would not hesitate to remove items purchased on her accounts as they would be classed as her belongings.

Why dont you let your mother live with you if she is struggling so badly. I know i wouldnt let my mum struggle.

This is a tough one. Keep us updated.

Personally, i would go through all accounts with my mother seperating what she has bought and what she has bought for the other person.

Then i would confront him with these costs and ask for some kind of repayment else return the goods for credit/money back.

Finally, if he doesnt comply with repayments, i would threaten him with legal action.

Failing that, i would invoke legal action against him to recover costs saying that he took advantage of the elderly etc

fast_track

From my experience I would emphasise that a crime has been committed here. The credit card company should accept that if charges are brought. The local authority should be very sympathetic to your mother's predicament. She will almost inevitably be regarded as homeless and in priority need as she is vulnerable. Please take some strong and immediate action. This is not a debt problem - this is intimidation and exploitation. Organisations such as Shelter and the CAB should help your mother with this. Go to your local council housing department with your mother tommorrow morning

idiot_3

unfortunately, i cannot see that there is much you can do about the credit card debt. i am sorry to hear your mum is in such a bad situation, and she should go to the council to get housing.

however she has allowed or has bought these items on credit cards in her name. she is therefore soley responsible for paying off the cards - the bloke who has the items morally should pay her, but he doesn't owe a penny to the card company, and proving he has not paid her may well be tricky.

i think she will be much better moving out, and into somewhere 'proper'. having no tennancy agreement is frankly ludicrous! that should be sorted first to at least give her some peace of mind, before tackling the financial side.

good luck with this, you may well find the cc company fairly unsympathetic, saying she is liable for all payments. if she can't afford it, would bankruptcy be too terrible? after all it is hardly likely she will want a mortgage (or get one) at 62, and if she defaults on the 20k her credit history is shot anyway. bankruptcy would wipe the slate clean.

idiot.

Dammam

This seems to be a clear case of exploitation by the neighbour/landlord. No rent book, rehousing, borrowing money and not paying it back? This guy is laughing all the way to the bank, and he's doing it safe in the knowledge that your mother is so vulnerable and afraid to complain in case she loses her home.

My immediate thought is to set about him with a baseball bat - sometimes that's the only language these scum understand. That would be illegal though. The previous posters are all correct - go to the CAB, the council and the police - possibly her local MP too. When the cookers etc were delivered, to which address were they delivered? Proof is the hardest thing to get - he could say your mother owed him money so she gave him the things she had bought.
I would hope that the credit card companies would at least show a little compassion in this case - and how the hell did a 62 year old woman with 3 cleaning jobs living in rented accomodation which changes fairly regularly manage to get £20,000 of credit?
Maybe they may feel they have a little "moral" responsibility.

hobo28

If it were my mother, me and some of my friends would be visiting the gentleman in question and "talking" some sense into him. I'd also insist on taking back the goods which are legally and morally your mum's.

Can't help you with the CC company apart from suggesting you explain the situation and see if they can be sympathetic. Its not a case they would get very good publicity from if it were in the public domain.

Xbigman

Not supplying a rent book or lease is an offence. If there are no records then he almost certainly hasn't paid any tax on the income either. Tell the local council and call the police but first get any valuables of your mothers out of the way incase he tries anything funny.
Regards




X

finnerty

My heart goes out to you and your mother

Firstly I would cut up the cards so no more can be put on them, then I would go to the CAB and the police, it seems clear to me that this Landlords agent is taking full advantage of a scared vunerable woman, She will have to pay the debt on the cards unless the courts get involved as there is no proof that any money has exchange hands it will be his word against hers so If it is possible and does not put your life or hers in danger do some digging to see if any other tenants have been taken advantage of also.

Get her another flat well away from this bunch of scondrels as you say she has already moved twice this year one more move to a flat with a good landlord isn't going to cause too much more disruption :-)

Good luck

heatherw_01

Thanks everyone.

She cannot live me with as there is no space at all here. She has cut up her cards as far as I know. A while ago she did look for another flat but she never went ahead with moving. I really want her to move out away from him.

I thought she only had one card but seeing as it is a £20k debt there must be more than one.

I think she lets him buys things but probably doesn't know everything he buys.

I remember a while ago she told me that he borrowed her bedit card so he put could his AOL subscription on it! I told her to go see him and get her card back and cancel the DD! I really don't know if she has or not as she doesn't tell me much. She didn't even know what AOL was.

She is very vunerable, if someone asked her for something I really doubt she would ever say no.

Any other advice is still welcome and appreciated.

fast_track

As long as this is reported to the police the credit card companies should be helpful. You must contact AOL and your mother's bank and credit card companies and ask them for help and assistance. Credit card companies do have liability if crime has been committed. X big man has a good point about the Inland Revenue too - they certainly like to get their dues