My Mom has debt too

[merime]

I thought I would get some before the panic advice. My 76 yr old mother is listed jointly on one of my accounts. She has several accounts of her own ,she is not paying. Iam her power of attorney-LOL. She gets social security$1,000 and a retirement check for $69.66 every month. Thats it. No property, car items of value. She defaulted long before I did. I am already being sued by one creditor-Citibank. My mom used to live with us, but moved back to NY last Nov. Iam wondering why she has not got a complaint? Maybe I am jinxing myself by asking that. Do you think before a cc company sues they look into a persons worth? Any insights on the subject are appreciated.

[Dougie011]

I don't think they can garnish her social security check and the other is too small for them to bother. They probably won't because they see that it really won't get them anywhere.

[treehugger1]

I would guess that the age of 76 is probably a factor. I'm not convinced that a CC company always looks into a person's "wealth" or assets. I believe that many attorney firms for original creditors are now paid by the case (or hour.) These law firms will definitely file suit. They have nothing to lose.

When it comes to JDB's who purchase the debt, I think they may be more selective in their suits.

[merime]

I just pick up the phone, say Iam her daughter and she used all her savings. All true. Thanks, for the insight. It is correct they can not take her social security or retirement check.

[GoingDown]

They can't take social security, nor retirement, but she had better keep it out of a checking account, or at least drain the checking account as soon as it gets deposited.

And yes, junk debt buyers do seem to be more selective in who they sue. They check to see if you are/or have

1. employed
2. real estate
3. mortgage payments or car payments on your credit report

before they sue.

If they don't think they are going to get paid back from a lawsuit, they don't bother suing you.

If you are judgment proof, explaining this to them in a letter, and telling them exactly why you are judgment proof (no job, no wages to garnish, no real estate, don't use checking accounts or savings accounts, etc.) does seem to help to keep them from suing you.

But be honest about it. They will check into it and if they find you are employed, for example, they will probably sue you anyways.

[Dougie011]

I don't think she would be judgement proof, but collection proof yes. They can always get a judgement, they just wouldn't be able to collect.

[catleg]

If she defaulted and then moved, they may have no idea where she is.

On the other hand, she might have a default judgment against her already.

You should probably ask her if she's gotten any funny looking legal mail.

You could also type in her name at 123peoplesearch.com and see what comes up, those fiends seem to have access to most data sources that they probably shouldn't.

[merime]

Thank you!!! She is living with sisters and has no address, just PO box we share in city where I live. Today I actually talked with AE. Have no real reason I answered the phone. It was almost funny. The collector said, you owe a lot of money. If you do not pay we will have to step up our collection efforts. Why dont you have a full time job? I think she got so frustrated because I was so calm. I will look into that people search asap!!

[debtprison]

If she defaulted and then moved, they may have no idea where she is.

Yes. People should be careful about initiating contact or giving them more info than they have. It can potentially make you low hanging fruit. Not having any info on a debtor can be a great deterrent in regards to suing them. Especially if the amount is not high and/or the most recent info they do have shows that you have no assets.