Study: Bankruptcies soar for senior citizens

[b_girl]

Saw this report on MSNBC yesterday:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26427259

The day of our 341, I did notice alot of older Americans in the courtroom...I would guess about one quarter of the people in the room were over 60. Didn't think much about it until I read this story...guess this economy doesn't age discriminate.

[JRScott]

My grandma is always wanting to buy me stuff and help with stuff. I've tried time and again to tell her she needs that money. She says she's got plenty but you never know how long she might live.

[mynameainttracy]

My grandmother just filed ch 7. Unfortunately it was because my uncle basically stole her identity and obtained numerous credit cards in her name then maxed them out. Instead of getting the law involved she chose to just file. What is crazy though is that all these credit card companies were issuing cards to an 80+ year old woman with barely any income.

[fltoo]

Many people are hurting, but if you look at the stats of the number of elderly people going without enough food, it will make you sick.

[banca rotta]

My grandmother just filed ch 7. Unfortunately it was because my uncle basically stole her identity and obtained numerous credit cards in her name then maxed them out. Instead of getting the law involved she chose to just file. What is crazy though is that all these credit card companies were issuing cards to an 80+ year old woman with barely any income.

I would have gotten the law. Now that she's bankrupt she can't file again and if your uncle starts it all up again she will be back where she started only without bk protection. Hopefully she at least got some sort of lock on her credit in case anyone applies for a loan in her name.

As for the credit card companies tough $#!# for them for doing that!

[AngelinaCatHub]

I would have gotten the law. Now that she's bankrupt she can't file again and if your uncle starts it all up again she will be back where she started only without bk protection. Hopefully she at least got some sort of lock on her credit in case anyone applies for a loan in her name.

As for the credit card companies tough $#!# for them for doing that!

I cannot agree more. If she does, someone has to step in and infer, she may not be in her right mind, or let's put it this way opon her behalf. It has to stop or it WILL kill her in the end. Only my opinion. 'Hub

[soleprop]

there were lots of older people at my 341 too.

[woeisme]

At my 341 there was one man there who was very old, couldn't walk, and had a real hard time hearing what the trustee was asking, but they were super-nice about it and did a really good job of being both respectful to him while trying not to also be so loud that it was interrupting the others (they had 4 tables going on simultaneously in the same room to handle all the people there.)

I agree with the posters who are upset to hear about the son who used his Mom's identity. Hopefully with a CH 7 on her record there's no credit to steal now. And if she is on a limited income, hopefully it is exempt. My husband let my stepson get away with this kind of crap (he stole a phonecard and ran up thousands of dollars of collect calls on it, and then did the same at his grandma's house only using her phone rather than phonecard) and he never called the police about it, it's one of the bills in our BK now even though it happened years before we met. But I've flat out told him that if any of his adult kids EVER steal from us, I will call the cops, and I won't feel a moments remorse, and the stepkids know this too. I refuse to enable that kind of crap, and if that makes me the wicked stepmother, so be it. I have a pretty good relationship with them, believe it or not, and I think in some ways they have more respect for me knowing I won't let them steal from me the way they have from their parents and each other in the past.

[businesscredit]

My grandmother just filed ch 7. Unfortunately it was because my uncle basically stole her identity and obtained numerous credit cards in her name then maxed them out. Instead of getting the law involved she chose to just file. What is crazy though is that all these credit card companies were issuing cards to an 80+ year old woman with barely any income.

That's odd. I can't stand what your uncle did. What credit card did she applied?

[mynameainttracy]

He used her address and other personal information to get an AMEX and a couple of VISAs and MCs. He just put his address down so she never even knew what was going on. He was making monthly payments on them but I guess something happened and he stopped paying them. When she started getting calls my mom ran her credit report and saw what he had done. About the time we found out what was going on my uncle just stopped coming around. Nobody in the family has seen him in over a year although they all live in a small town. My mom emails him about random stuff from time to time and he responds but that is all we hear from him.