Credit card Fraud (by family member)

kenneth1946

CannyJock wrote: »

Your father's home? Lemme see, assuming 1946 is date of birth, that would make you minimum 61, assuming your father was at least 16 1/4 when he got married, plus 9 month gestacion period for human baby would make your father 78?

Or is your son now using your forum account too and slipping up on his story? Or has it been the son all along?

Or am I just cynical? Actually, no need to answer that part, I already know the answer

MY Father is 83 in June. But what does that have to do with anything?

CannyJock

kenneth1946 wrote: »

MY Father is 83 in June. But what does that have to do with anything?

Lol, not much. So to recap:

• your son is able to pay the £ 170 a month and you're asking if that will be acceptable
• concensus is that involving the authorities isn't an option - if the police get involved they'll be fairly heavy handed
• you're left with debt in your name that you're now taking responsiblity for the £ 18,000 debt (on two cards)
• If there is no further interest added, i.e. both CC companies agree to freeze the debt it will take 106 months @ £ 170 a month to repay.
• There's no possibility of your son selling any of the things he bought through ebay or taking on extra work to generate additional income to pay against the debt
• Entering into a special arrangement with the CC companies will wreck your credit file for 6 years after the debt is paid (i.e. next 15 year?)

Only question still outstanding I can see is who's the best person to approach the CC companies ask them to suspend the interest for nearly 9 years while it's repaid at £ 170 a month.

Fair summary?

neverdespairgirl

Hi Kenneth - what a horrible position for you to be in! I'm really sorry, it must be hard to deal with your son behaving like this.

I think reporting him for fraud is, of course, something you'd be quite entitled to do, but it's a matter entirely for you.

Unfortunately, as the main card holder, you are liable for the debt. Is your son serious about paying it off regularly, or giving you the money to pay it off? Can he sell something to make a lump sum payment, or work a few extra hours?

kenneth1946

CannyJock wrote: »

Lol, not much. So to recap:

• your son is able to pay the £ 170 a month and you're asking if that will be acceptable
• concensus is that involving the authorities isn't an option - if the police get involved they'll be fairly heavy handed
• you're left with debt in your name that you're now taking responsiblity for the £ 18,000 debt (on two cards)
• If there is no further interest added, i.e. both CC companies agree to freeze the debt it will take 106 months @ £ 170 a month to repay.
• There's no possibility of your son selling any of the things he bought through ebay or taking on extra work to generate additional income to pay against the debt
• Entering into a special arrangement with the CC companies will wreck your credit file for 6 years after the debt is paid (i.e. next 15 year?)

Only question still outstanding I can see is who's the best person to approach the CC companies ask them to suspend the interest for nearly 9 years while it's repaid at £ 170 a month.

Fair summary?

Yes it's a fair summary of this dreadful situation.

I am now fully aware of the effect this will have on my credit rating. Luckily this isn't of great concern as I do not wish to obtain any further credit.

If need something I will be paying cash. I am now retired and comfortable.
Well I was until this little bombshell was handed to me.

Letters have been sent to the companies involved. I'll sit tight and see what they come back with.
If need be I will then approach my Son and see if he can sell anything. I am reluctant to do this at the moment in fear of pushing him over the edge.
He's very depressed and down about all this, which he should be. But he has a daughter and I don't want this effecting her in anyway.

nomoneytoday

I would report the son to the authorities, hope they lock him up and give him a smacked *** as well !!!

How dare he abuse this position of trust ?

ndbruton

Sorry to hear about this situation, must have seriously rocked all of the family including your son. I'm sure you have already spoken long and hard to him about this, but what you would hope for him to do now is dust himself down, learn from the dreadful mistakes he has made and put this right in a lot shorter time than the 9 or so years that's been mentioned.

lisyloo

I think that we shouldn't judge too quickly.
I definitely agree that the son should be doing more. I would like to see him working at 2 or 3 jobs and cutting back on any luxuries until the debt is paid off.
However there are other considerations and I think that kenneth has to deal with these as he sees fit.
For example the child (or children) should not be deprived.
Similarly if someone is depressed then it can counter-productive to make them feel worse.
I have a sister who sometimes behaves badly but because of mental illness I have to tread very carefully because of course I would not wish her to commit suicide and therefore you need to take account the robustness of the individuals involved.

My own opinion FWIW is that hard work and paying back the debt would make the son feel a whole lot better about the situation but I think that kenneth knows his own family better than anyone else and has to judge how to tread that fine line.

It would also be a whole lot better if it comes from the son himself.
Forcing people to do things is rarely very satisfying.
I can force my husband to say I look nice in a dress but it's so much better when it comes unprompted.

Perhaps sometimes a bit of space for reflection is what is required.

calibrax

If your son has run up that amount of debt, then he must have something to show for it which you can sell to help clear the debt?

That is, unless he's gambled it away, drunk it, or spent it on drugs, in which case there's another problem to deal with and not just a credit card debt.

Hope it works out for you.

missile

NickX wrote: »

Not true, Credit card debt is unsecured, they cannot simpy take assets to recover the debt. They have to get a Court Order to send bailiffs round.

Provided the OP agrees to paying what they can afford, and £170 per month sounds ample to me, any judge will not be inclined to send bailiffs in, and the Credit Card companies will just to have to wait.

The crucial thing is that the OP is making some effort to repay the debts.

I am well aware that CC is an unsecured debt and they would have to take him to court. No one can simply send the bailiffs in, even for a secured loan.

I said OP needs to be careful, as he is a home owner he obviously has assets which the CC can try to sieze if they feel he is not making a reasonable offer. Some effort may not be enough and without details of OPs circumstances, one cannot take a view on what is reasonable.

Where is it written that credit card companies will just have to wait?

NickX

missile wrote: »

I am well aware that CC is an unsecured debt and they would have to take him to court. No one can simply send the bailiffs in, even for a secured loan.

I said OP needs to be careful, as he is a home owner he obviously has assets which the CC can try to sieze if they feel he is not making a reasonable offer. Some effort may not be enough and without details of OPs circumstances, one cannot take a view on what is reasonable.

Where is it written that credit card companies will just have to wait?

Where Debts that are secured on specific assets, the creditor has a right to make a claim on that asset. With unsecured debts, no such claim can be made, the creditor must take the debtor to court and it is down to the courts whether Bailiffs are sent in. Even then, the creditor will have to wait until the assets have been sold off before they would receive any funds.

The Credit Card company certainly has no rights to sieze anything if they feel the offer is not reasonable. They can threaten all sorts, and the Debt collectors are even worse - they give the impression that they can simply come round and help themselves to whatever they like, but they CANNOT, they have no rights whatsoever. They can only take the Debtor to court, then it is down to the Judge to decide what is reasonable. Provided the Debtor has made some inroads to repay something, the Judge is extremely unlikely to send in Bailiffs. I have known cases where as long as the Debtor pays £1 per week, then the courts are satisfied.

It is not written that Credit Card companies have to wait, but in practice they do. In bankruptcy cases they will always have to wait until any secured debts are settled. But then this is the nature of unsecured debts.