Help - quick question to advise relative getting collection calls

[nickifan]

Hi -

You'd think I'd know the answer to this after spending a year fielding phone calls from DCAs but I don't. (I am 6 mos. post Ch 7 discharge.)

A relative whose daughter is using a CC that I believe is under the relative's name is now getting very nasty calls from a "Mark Murphy" - (I googled and it appears to be Viking Collection Service.) He told her her daughter has not made payments for several months and owes $21K (!) and wants it from the relative. She is retired and on very modest Social Security so I don't think he'll be too successful... but is she technically responsible for her daughter's debt??

Her daughter did acknowledge that she hasn't paid the original creditor (I think it was Chase) for several months, so it sounds about right that it has gone to a junk collector. This guy is sarcastic on the phone -- my relative (who is easily scared) said she could pay $25 a month maybe and he said "don't be ridiculous." He apparently did threaten a lawsuit and she told him her age and that she only gets SS and that he "can't get blood from a stone" -- and he replied "well aren't you smart." (I think he knows he can't touch her SS.) We are all in Texas so I also know he can't garnish the daughter's wages... but how realistic is it that the relative will get sued???
He did offer her the "bargain" of paying $464 a month....that's when she said she would try to do the $25... she also said something to him about not denying that she might be responsible...

Thoughts appreciated! She thinks the card might actually still be in her late husband's name so I don't know if that makes any difference... she did tell Murphy to send her all this "in writing" so we'll see... she didn't know the name of the company or where he is and I think he's required to at least tell her that, no? He did offer her the "bargain" of paying $464 a month....

[bcohen]

Unfortunately, your relative made a HUGE mistake by admitting that she knows her daughter defaulted on the debt, and offering to pay anything. The fact is that parents are not responsible for their adult children, and the collection agency knows this, but doesn't care, as they just want to get paid. Now that the collection agency knows that your relative can be easily frightened into paying ANYTHING, they will continue calling and calling, and make even more threats to try and make her pay money that she does not owe, and cannot afford to give up!

It would have been best if she had refused to talk about the alleged debt, or her daughter, and told the collector that she doesn't speak to the daughter anymore, and has no information about her or any debts that she might owe.

Before I quit paying my unsecured debts (this was back in March of 2009), I told my parents, brothers, and sisters that I would be defaulting on my debts due to loss of income, and that if any collection agencies call them, to say that they do not speak to me, don't know my whereabouts, or if I am dead or alive. Fortunately, my family was very understanding, and they never gave up any information to these people. Now, more than 3 years later, collectors call my parents' house maybe once a month, and never call any of my brothers and sisters. And of course, then never bother me, because no one in my family was dumb enough to give out my unlisted number.

[Bell30656]

Simplest answer for your friend... "I'm sorry Mark but my attorney advise me to never discuss financial matters over the telephone. Please send any and all correspondence to the address you have on record for me. This and all phone calls to my telephone number are recorded to insure compliance with local, state and federal laws. Thank you for calling, please have a great day."

The hard part is sticking to your mantra no matter what the person says.

[nickifan]

Thanks folks.

But ..if the card is her daughter's but technically under HER (or the late husband's) name account, is she still responsible??
As I say, I suspect they know they won't get far in collecting from someone on Social Security (the mother) or her daughter (in a non-garnishment state.) She doesn't have caller ID and she's waiting for all calls to go to voicemail now because she is so afraid of this guy.

I'll know more when I see some paperwork, if any...just want to get a sense of the "possible."

Thanks again. (Bell I have always loved your sig photo!)

[bcohen]

If the card is really in the mother's name, and the daughter is just an authorized user, then that changes everything. In that case, she--not the daughter--is legally responsible for the debt. Your relative would owe the money, although if her sole source of income is Social Security, and she has no non-exempt assets, then the blood-from-a-turnip theory kicks in.