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JoAnn29, I put a freeze on 3 of her CCs, but, the 4th I couldn't because I could not get the PIN from her. She keeps telling me, "It's MY money, I can do what I want." OK. Wife and I also pay off our charges every month.
Thanks everyone for giving me input. Mom and I had it out over the phone again today. Nothing new. I keep finding out about her finances from other sources. She just wants to have things HER WAY.
Now, as to who owes them upon death, the estate. If Mom has no money, the money owed will have to be written off by the companies. POAs and families are not responsible for the debt.
Be aware, that paying the minimum on Moms charges does not even touch the principle. You need to pay more to bring it down and stop using the cards. I pay my charges off every month. One month I was late 1 day. Finance charges are calculated before your payment is applied so I was charged. Then I was charged a late payment of $35. I called and told them this was the first time this has happened in the years I had the card. They agreed and dropped the finance charges but left the late charge. So you can see where credit cards can get out of hand. I bet she is paying the highest finance rate.
With a $20K credit card balance, I don't think any bank would want to extend a $10K loan. That certainly isn't following good lending guidelines. Is this a national bank, or a local one? I can't remember for sure which governmental agency regulates national banks, nor am I sure that in the current D.C. political environment that there would be support for pursuing elder financial abuse.
This bank needs to be shamed though!
Aloha, will her brother give you a copy of the loan agreements? I wonder if she really signed or if he signed on her behalf as proxy. If you can get a copy of the loan documents, look for any clauses that allow cancellation after a certain period of time. Some states have these mandatory options for borrowers who change their mind and want to rescind the contracts.
IS her brother totally on the up and up? Just that you threw that in there, last moment. Could he be financially gaining from her loan? Just a ??
Lenders can only seek recourse from the signer, the borrower, UNLESS someone guaranteed the loan. If so, there would likely be a guaranty agreement, but if you didn't sign and you don't know of anyone else in your family who might have, there's probably not a guaranty. In my experience, these are primarily for business loans.
FYI, she lives with her 75-year-old brother and he handles her finances.