My roommate and I are having an argument, and I can't seem to find an answer. Would love to have your feedback. My roommate is a foreign student, she's moving out of the country at the end of the month, and she has about $40,000 outstanding credit card debts, that she's leaving behind without any desire to pay. She says that once she's gone, and she has no intention of coming back to the US, the credit card companies will send her a bunch of angry letters and then will write the debt off. My problem though is that she used my address for her credit card statements, and paid her bills on-line through my bank account. So, I argue with her that the credit card companies will try to come after me and try to collect her debt at her last known address and her last bank account number. Who is right? What if a couple of years from now, she tries to come back to the US to visit? Will she get arrested or something? The question might sound stupid, but I don't want to be holding somebody's bag for years to come. Thanks for any help.
What Cap One said. It shouldn't be too much trouble for you though and as such I really wouldn't worry about it until someone calls.
The credit card companies cannot come after you for the payment of the debt, but...if you stay at this same address for another 6-9 months, expect to get the calls asking how to find your old roommate. If you stay long enough at this address you may find a summons being delivered to you for your roommate also. Keep an eye on your credit reports down the road, you may find inquiries into your credit based upon the same address as your roommate gave. Just dispute at the time of discovery. Bottom line: you will not be responsible for the debt, but most likely you will have to endure some irritating phone calls. If you are truly concerned, and want to take a protective action, place a "Public Notice" in your local newspaper stating that you were in no way responsible for any of her debts and transactions, and have no knowledge of her whereabouts. This is usually done in divorces, but if you want, it is a small pricefor a bit of extra protection.
By the way, you can tell your roommate from me that I think she's nothing but a worthless piece of garbage - a common thief. Who raised her? What country is she from? Most people here are trying to dig themselves out of holes they dug themselves, but I haven't seen anyone that I believe intentionally stiffed companies to save themselves money. I hope she dies in poverty, her expensive US education having done her not one bit of good in her country.
The credit card companies can NOT come after you unless some of those cards were joint cards, and you were the secondary card holder. If they were just in your roommate"s name, you're free and clear of those debts. As far as the past online payments are concerned, I assume she put funds into your account and made the payments, I strongly advise you to switch banks immediately. The creditors - to which she made the online payments have YOUR bank account information, and will attempt to take money from your account. While you can dispute unauthorized deductions from your account with your bank, it's a big hassle - so just switch banks.
Some creditors (monogram bank of georgia allegedly being one) will deny applications for credit from an address where a debtor who burned them was living. So, depending on who her creditors were, you might have trouble getting credit from them in the future.
BS - addresses don't have anything to do credit applications/approvals. Names, SS #s, and persons' credit histories/scores do.
Thanks, confirmed what I thought. Can the lenders file criminal charges against her? Thanks again for putting my mind at ease.
All I'm telling you is what folks on other boards have reported about Monogram. As in, it was the reason stated on the TD letter.
Criminal charges against someone who left this country? There are no extradition agreements between countries for non-payment of bills. The creditors will just have to eat the losses.
They can file charges, but unlikely. They would have to have evidence that she intended to commit fraud by charging and having full intent of never paying. Also, they could file charges, but they mean nothing unless she returns to this country, and she would have to be arrested for something else to probably be noticed. As far as your bank account, they will not try to "take money" out, an unauthorized transfer of funds is a felony. I doubt they would do that.
