I am helping a friend work to rebuild his credit after divorce. Their divorce stipulated that his XW was to pay off (1) credit card's balance, and he was to pay the other (they had 2). She opened the account she was to pay in his name, and his name remains on it. She started making payments, but apparently has not made one since last Oct., and the WAMU started to try to collect the debt from him. The debt has now gone into collection and the CA is coming after him, even though she is to pay this debt. He did make a couple of payments on this account before he realized it was the one she was supposed to pay. Questions: Is he liable for this debt? Is there a way to refocus the CA onto his XW who is supposed to pay this debt? Is there a way to get it out of his name? We are planning to write the CRA's and dispute this debt as not his, citing the divorce stipulation, and to the CA disputing his responsibility and giving them her contact information. Has anyone had experience with this type of situation before? Any other ideas? We are in CO. Thank you!
Yes, he is liable for the debt. The divorce decree does nothing as far as the legal obligation goes. It doesn't alter the contract with the creditor. It is simply the division of property. He can sue his ex-wife for anything he has to pay under the divorce and property settlement. She has breached that contract. I learned this the hard way.
She opened the account while they were married, in his name, without his knowledge. I don't know if this has any bearing on the issue. Is there anything he can do to turn the CA back to pursuing her to collect the debt? It seems she may be willing to make small payments on this account. Is disputing it with the CRA's and / or writing a DV letter to the original creditor and giving them her contact information of any benefit?
If someone opened an account in anothers name without their knowledge and forged their signature then even if it is the wife that did such this is fraud. You write the creditor that this is NOT YOURS, they SHOULD send you an affidavit you would sign as a FRAUD statement. If this does not happen then and when you are sued, your defense will be that it is NOT yours, the lawyer will want you to sign a stipulation as to such and case is dismissed. If it were me, I would not pay a dime on the account as YOU did not OPEN it, and did not use it, correct, if you used it then you are out of luck as then YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS ACCOUNT. Woofer
To use the fraud argument, he would have to file a police report and possibly file charges against her. Otherwise, his best course of action is to pay it and sue her for the amount he has to pay. As long as it is in his name, disputing it and sending her contact information will not do anything. And even if she makes small payments it's going to ruin his credit. That's why I said he should pay it and sue her.
Why would the CA want to pursue her? Consider that she's now out riding her motorcycle around the country in black leathers with her new boyfriends, and your friend is working every day at a job. If you were the CA, which person would you harass? It seems she was willing to set up the account by paying for awhile. If she never paid, they wouldn't continue to let her charge her leathers, her helmets, and her red and white reflectors for her bicycle built for two: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do I'm half crazy all for the love of you It won't be a stylish marriage I can't afford a carriage Dumb Bob is channeling HAL again. The problem is that if the debt was created during the marriage, it is probably going to be a liability for both of the people in the marriage. As others have said, the divorce really is about those two people. Those two people can't write things that change things outside of what is between those two people. If you think about it, it has to be that way. Image that Madoff crook, the 50 billion dollar man, writing something with his wife saying she gets to keep all the money. Wouldn't buy it and the courts won't either. If she has assets, pay the bill and sue her. If this is dragged out, the way our modern insane interest rate system works, you'll be sorry. They are going to start hitting the account with rates even as high as 39%, check your contract. A few years of waiting around for her to come back from her road trip and it's more than either party could pay.
Thank you all. Dumb Bob, you raised another interesting point - the interest rate! It was a WAMU card, then apparently Chase took it over - for about (1) month - and now he has received his first letter from the a CA for the same debt. The interest rate shown on the last bill was > 30%! Is this even LEGAL? I don't use credit cards - so I am not up to speed on what they can or can not do...but that seems like it goes beyond a limit that I would hope is there. What is the best way to address this bill, considering that he does not have the funds to pay it anytime soon? Since he has received the CA letter - is it too late to make payment arrangements with WAMU / Chase? Is it best to transfer this balance to another card with a lower rate? Can the CA continue to add interest at the 30% rate? That increased the balance owed by almost $100.00 last month alone! The divorce also stipulated that he was to pay another one of their joint CC's off - with a similar balance, and he has been making regular, on time payments - that balance is in the $4,500.00 range, while this one is now pushing $5,000.00.
I imagine the fraud claim wouldn't hold up. If I read her post correctly, even though she opened it without his knowledge, the debt was acknowledged in the divorce. I would have to agree, he is going to have to pay this off and sue her. Does she have any assets or a job?
I just did a post about wama/prov/chase trying to reaffirm old cc debt.Is 30% legal yes because the thugs and hoodlums in congress says so.In the first place if your having a problem at 10% well go from there.We need a rico act for the credit card business.As the interest rates go it more and more we have to kiss the ring.Viva la revolution
Yikes - 30% on an investment - maybe we should get into the business! Of course as you point out jj - if you can't make the payments at 10% - how on earth are you going to be able to make them at 30%? Jlynn, She does have a job and school loans which she is also to pay, and they are thankfully solely in her name. If this thing keeps increasing by $100.00 a month - neither one will be able to pay them - even if they want to! Is it worth trying to transfer this balance? Is it even possible to negotiate with WAMU / Chase / Prov since he got the CA letter? The XW took all of their original paperwork - so he has nothing to show how this account was originally set up. Jlynn, you are correct in that the debt was acknowledged in the divorce proceedings. Is there a possibility he was only an AU? How can we find this out? Would a DV letter to WAMU / Chase requesting that specific information be of any help here? We don't know what shows up on her report - but based on what he has told me I am of the understanding that this must be in both of their names...either that or he was the credit holder and she was an AU. How can we tell? Thanks!
Have you pulled his credit reports to see how they are reporting. Its not 100% definitive, but a good start.
