My spouse was just served by a debt collector. She owes $17k from a credit card debt. Unbeknownst to me, her dad had been helping her make the monthly payment on the card, and when he passed away she stopped making the monthly payment, and so US Bank sold the debt to a debt collection agency that is now suing her. Apparently she had worked out a deal where she was supposed to have been paying the debt collector $286/month for 5 years, but then missed a payment
I’ve always had minimal to no debt and own a house and car in my name free and clear. My wife is recently unemployed staying home with the kids, and since her name is not on the house or car she owns no major assets, though we are married.
This is totally new for me so I’m seeking advice on what to do?
My initial thought was to contact the debt collector and offer to pay it off in full (I have capacity to do that with $50k in the bank), or begin making the monthly payments. I assume it’s not worth going to court if we know the debt is valid.
But I’m also wondering since my spouse doesn’t have any direct income or assets, can they even collect the debt? Or since we are married they could come after my income? We live in Oregon.
Many thanks for any insights you may be able to share.
Edit: based on advice we are going to negotiate a settlement. If anyone has further advice or experience on how to approach the conversation with the debt collector that would be helpful. I don’t entirely understand how this works but I assume the debt collector purchases the debt from the bank for less than its value and they may accept less?
Submitted February 04, 2024 at 11:20PM by Reasonable_Drama_214 https://ift.tt/ATaGOoL
