var json_comments = new Array("
\"user-pic\"
Blueskylaw
January 16, 2009 3:21 PM
Moderate | Flag for review

Don't any unpaid bills/obligations have to come out of his estate?
If he did not have much property/money/wealth then I assume they will just have to swallow the loss.
Does anyone know if this is correct?

Reply
4 replies
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 16, 2009 10:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

href=\"#c10094252\">Blueskylaw: Yes the estate is responsible for the outstanding debt. My father passed away and we had to inform all the companies we knew he owed money to and publish an announcement in the local paper. They then had a limited time to file a claim to the estate. If they did not file in time then they were out of luck. If they called we would just tell them to send a written claim to us. After that they were not allowed to pressure us to pay but they were allowed to make deals like give us 20% now and it is all settled. This may only be in Colorado though.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Brittany Stewart
January 16, 2009 3:33 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Blueskylaw:

A good friend of mine's aunt recently died and the lawyer basically said that any money in the estate has to go to unpaid debts. If there is no money left in the estate, no one is responsible for the debt. The debt collectors have to accept it as a loss and move on.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
cf27
January 16, 2009 3:24 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Blueskylaw: That is basically correct. The exceptions would be if the parents co-signed for his loans or, in some cases, if they were authorized users of his credit card.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Veeber
January 16, 2009 3:43 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@cf27: I have a feeling that even authorized users of a credit card are exempt. You grant permission to use your credit card but are still responsible for the charges. Not entirely sure though.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
varro
January 16, 2009 5:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Veeber: Yes - my friend was sued by a credit card company when he was an authorized user on his mom's card. He didn't use the card.

She filed for bankruptcy and got the debt discharged. The collection agency sued him, but he argued in small claims court that he was an authorized user, not a co-signer. The judge dismissed the case.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Jenkinsbball
January 16, 2009 3:24 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I thought they go after the family when a family member dies. Like, if my mom passed, they'd come after my brother, sister and I to repay her debt.

Reply
4 replies
\"user-pic\"
ARP
January 16, 2009 6:41 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Jenkinsbball: I think the only time this is true is as people have stated above and a spousal situation. I think (can anyone confirm), that they can come after you if your spouse had debts, because under many laws, you're considered one person.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Flame
January 16, 2009 7:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ARP: Depends on a lot of things. If you had debt, and then got married, your debt may not necessarily be the responsibility of your new spouse. It's going to depend on state law. Some states are community property states, a few are not. And you might also have a pre-nuptual agreement that keeps everything separate.

I used to work for a bankruptcy attorney, and we had a client that had alot of medical bills. He filed for Chapter 7 and got them discharged. Because all of the bills happened before they married, they never went after her for them. Although they did go after his ex-wife, because he was married to her when the bills occurred. But that was in Idaho.

We also had a client whose husband was very ill, and eventually died. He had already run through his life-time max of insurance, and so left her with about 400k in bills. She filed for Chapter 7 to get rid of them because the bill collectors were coming after her.

Luckily, I got a different job, and don't have to play with bankruptcy all that often anymore...lol

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ARP
January 16, 2009 8:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Flame: Thanks, forgot about the community property v. separate property rules.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Shadowfire
January 16, 2009 3:31 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Jenkinsbball: No, they come after the estate. If there's not enough left to cover the debts, the collectors eat the loss.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
huadpe
January 16, 2009 3:30 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Jenkinsbball: No, they can't. Unless you cosigned a loan with one of those people, their debts are theirs, and yours are yours. The laws in common law countries are all very clear about debt not being carried through generations.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
newgalactic
January 16, 2009 3:25 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Change your number.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
howie_in_az
January 16, 2009 4:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@newgalactic: Wow, that's a totally original idea that I'm sure debt collection agencies wouldn't have thought of, especially with their \"skip tracker\" software.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
BluePlastic
January 16, 2009 10:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@howie_in_az: I'm not aware of \"skip tracker\" software. The people who call me don't seem to use it. They just call ME repeatedly, over and over again for years, even though I don't know the guy they are looking for. I know his name because they are always calling and asking for him. I've had this phone number for several years now. I'm don't know if he ever had this number or if he just uses it so that people can't call him wanting their money (or videos in the case of Blockbuster) back.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
techstar25
January 16, 2009 3:26 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I just looked up the law, and it said that his debts must come from his estate, but of course he would have to have the assets to pay it. Even if his parents are in charge of his estate, if he had no assets his debts should be charged off. As I understand it, collectors can not go after his parent's estate.
I think this is just a case of the collector just not knowing he's deceased.

Reply
8 replies
\"user-pic\"
Miguel Valdespino
January 16, 2009 5:02 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@techstar25: If they've had communications from the lawyer, then they understand it. I can see two other options -
1) They haven't received an official copy of the death certificate. I'm sure that lots of people would say they were dead if it would get a creditor off their backs.
2) They've been told to keep on it in the old tried-and-true creditor way. \"If they don't know their rights, then we might get something from them instead of writing it off.\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Tallanvor
January 16, 2009 6:05 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Miguel Valdespino: It doesn't matter if they've received a death certificate. --His parents aren't responsible for the debt, and it's not their job to prove that their son is dead. Debt collectors aren't supposed to be talking to anyone other than the person who owes them money about what the person owes. Of course, if one of the parents was the executor of their son's estate, then they do have a responsibility to provide the certificate.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ARP
January 16, 2009 6:43 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Tallanvor: Good point, even if he were alive and well, they're not responsible unless they co-signed.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Flame
January 16, 2009 7:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ARP: My guess here is that the guy died without a Will, or intestate. There wouldn't be an executor then, and if he didn't have any assets, there wouldn't be any reason to probate the estate.

That being said, I would still give them a death certificate. It's a photocopy and stamp..... If it persisted, then I would seek attorney advice...

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Fenders-Stratosphere
January 16, 2009 3:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@techstar25: From the Fox article: \"Laurie Crimeni said her son had no assets or estates to pay the debt he left behind, and all of the accounts were exclusively in her son's name.\"


Since the parent's were not co-signers to any of the accts, the companies must write off the debt.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
StarkRavingMan
January 16, 2009 3:35 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I don't think this is just a mistake. The same thing happened to my wife's family when an adult son died. It was very clear that several of the creditors were trying to bully the family into thinking they were responsible for the son. Sears, for example, called repeatedly after it was clear they understood the guy had died.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
bwcbwc
January 17, 2009 7:04 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@StarkRavingMan: Well here's a question or two: Who is the executor of the dead son's estate? Assuming he was young enough that he never made a will, does the estate have to go through probate before the debtors can officially be called off?

If the parents are acting as the executors, then the debt calls are legitimate, up to a point. They would be smart to refer all such calls to their attorney, assuming he/she is handling all of the paperwork related to the estate. Who knows, maybe the estate will start generating an income from FDCPA suits.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
CaffiendCA
January 16, 2009 7:35 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@StarkRavingMan:


I worked for a time as a bankruptcy attorney, and Sears was the single most ruthless of the creditors that would appear. So much effort over such small amounts of money!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ArcanaJ
January 16, 2009 5:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@StarkRavingMan: Right, it's no mistake, it's policy. Sure it's illegal, but not everyone knows that so they often get away with it.

Ford motor credit tried the same thing with me after my father died.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
KristinaBeana
January 16, 2009 4:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@StarkRavingMan: Sears did the same thing to us when my Grandmother died.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Segador
January 16, 2009 3:26 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The same thing happened to my friend's parents after he was killed in a car wreck. It took over a year for the collections calls to stop, and several of the companies tried to insinuate that the parents were now responsible for some of their dead son's debts.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Shadowman615
January 16, 2009 3:27 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I think they would have to sue his estate, although that wouldn't help much since there isn't any. The collection agencies are pretty much SOL on this one so they're frantically trying to do whatever they can to get some money back.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
joe.glass
January 16, 2009 3:28 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Any chance we can get the collection agency's contact information and start a good ole' fashioned email flood campaign against them? That ought to tie up their resources for a while!

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
Hotscot
January 16, 2009 6:41 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@joe.glass: Even better their fax and email contact details

Reply
\"user-pic\"
CFinWV
January 17, 2009 3:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Hotscot: Forward them all those vacation deals that we receive at our work fax.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
joe.glass
January 16, 2009 3:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@joe.glass: Let's harass the harassers and see how they like it!

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Trencher93
January 16, 2009 3:30 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Nothing will stop debt collecting scum. Not too long ago, I was targeted by them - and I have never been in debt! Apparently they troll people at random. They finally gave up after several months of phone-blitzing me. They ignored the fact that I wasn't who they wanted. Different people all the time, phone messages about retaining a lawyer and calling them back, and all kinds of stuff. This was when I bought caller ID and bought new phones, just to screen calls. Best investment I ever made.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
Keter
January 17, 2009 12:18 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Trencher93: Be careful with this: they might charge off the debt and attribute it to you. Check your credit report. You must go through the process of forcing them to prove that you owe the debt in writing and then responding via certified mail (return receipt for proof that they got your response) that you are not the person who incurred the debt, are not liable for it, and that they are to cease and desist all collection efforts. If you don't do this, you don't have the paper trail to prove anything should it show up on your credit report, and at that point it will be much harder to get it off of there.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
almigi
January 16, 2009 4:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Trencher93: Ditto that for me. I once had a debt collector call me repeatedly for debt owed to MBNA (which I have never done business with). Only after the debt collector read me a social security number that was not my own (gotta love the measures taken to protect people's personal information) and said, \"is this you?\" to which I said, \"no,\" did he believe me. For about a week. Then he called again. After returning his call and leaving him a voicemail explaining how we went through this before, did he finally leave me alone.


Also, when I moved and had my cell phone number changed based on my new location, I started getting calls for the person who used to have my phone number. Some collectors were cool with the, \"I don't know this person\" response, others seemed to think I was lyeing, but eventually would give up when they realized that I wasn't gonna change my story.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Ryan Yaple
January 16, 2009 3:31 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Why not try to tell them he is dead on the phone, if not, then ask for an address to send a certified death certificate to. Then, it will become the estates issue. Also, ask to speak to their manager and tell them how insensitive they are. We had people calling my house wanting to redo my dead grandpa's debt a year after his death....they apologized and removed us from the list.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
Sam Wille
January 16, 2009 4:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Ryan Yaple: I can speak as a collector and a person who once lived in debt:

a) What the collectors are doing is illegal. If they have no debts on file that are in both the deceased and his living co-signor's name, they have to eat the loss if the estate is non-existent or tapped out.

b) Collectors don't have to be nice to you. Nowhere in the FDCPA does it indicate people have to be nice to you. They can be just as bitchy and whiny as they are in their own personal life. For some, this is a 'dream job'. The one thing a collector 'understands' is when you tell them you have representation. At that point they usually stop, but it doesn't prevent them from improperly documenting your file, losing your attorney's info, etc.

This is why you send certified mail with a return-receipt.

c) When the calls continued after disclosing the death of the original debtor, an attorney should have been contacted - at which point the calls should have stopped. They haven't, which means a lawsuit on their behalf can be filed. Many attorneys gleefully do this at little to no charge and the family can recover damages as a result.

Not knowing the financial nature of the deceased, the collection agency has to now think long and hard - is the $1,000 fine worth what we are trying to collect? If they honestly think so, let them have at it. They still won't get the money and they will be fined and penalized every step of the way.

I would love to see a full list of the collection agencies in question. I wouldn't doubt if I saw NCO Financial and a few other choice companies out there that I've dealt with in the past.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
picardia
January 16, 2009 3:31 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Probably a 27-year-old just didn't have much of an estate to speak of; if he was not yet a homeowner (and if he was living in New York like his parents, that's more likely than not), then he might not have much in the way of assets. (I'm assuming that if he had, the parents would already have dealt with this.) So the creditors are out of luck.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
squikysquiken
January 16, 2009 3:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I've gotten phone calls from an agency trying to collect on my neighbor's deceased's sister (at 23). They ask me to tell him they are trying to reach him to collect a debt. I told them to take a hike.


As I understand, they can only legally collect against the estate, but it takes time, a lawyer and of course, an estate that can pay; so they try to get family members to cough up the money because it's cheaper and faster. They hope family members don't know they don't have to pay or count on their grief. It's not illegal (unless they violate the law i.e. keep calling after they've been told to stop), but it sure is scummy.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
menty666
January 16, 2009 3:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Tell them he moved and give them the address of the cemetery.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 3:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@menty666: That's a good one, except then they'd start harassing the poor groundskeeper there. They're just thugs trying to shake people down.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Sam Glover
January 16, 2009 3:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Harassing a dead son's grieving parents is not a \"small claim\" by any stretch of the imagination.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
floraposte
January 16, 2009 5:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Sam Glover: Emotionally, I agree with you entirely. But you gotta work with what the law gives you.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Sam Glover
January 16, 2009 6:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@floraposte: What the law gives someone in the parents' circumstances is $1,000 plus actual damages and attorney fees.

Actual damages under the FDCPA mean emotional distress. Here are two FDCPA awards, for $92,903 and $854,389.81, that I wrote about last year:

[caveatemptorblog.com]
[caveatemptorblog.com]

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ARP
January 16, 2009 6:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Sam Glover: Important to note the Attorney's fees. This means that many attorney make take this with a very small/no retainer if they think its a clear cut case because they'll get attorney's fees.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
quail
January 16, 2009 3:44 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The sad thing is the kid probably died without enough money to warrant taking his estate to probate. Collectors won't stop with just a death certificate sent to them. They need to know that there's no money in the estate. Even with an estate with no money, probate can be necessary to prove to creditors that there's no way they can get blood from that stone.

This means the parents need to talk to a probate attorney and find the cheapest course possible to stop those jerks. Which probably means at least a grand spent with an attorney and the probate courts.

As to the harassment, take them to court.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
Sam Wille
January 16, 2009 4:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@quail: They can easily make the $1,000 back + damages after their attorney files suit. The collection agencies are really hurting this much that they want to invest this much time and effort? This guy either had a whooper of a debt load or there is so much turnover with the collector that they can't keep their records straight.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Andrew McCloskey Aka ATM
January 16, 2009 4:02 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@quail:


I think another thing with probate is that there's a limited amount of time for debtors looking to collect money to come forward and after a certain amount of time its tough luck. My father passed away and it went into probate (long story) and i remember something with collectors not being able to touch the estate after a certain period (sorry about not being more exact it's been awhile)

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
StutiCebriones
January 16, 2009 3:46 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

So... wait. I'm, let's tactfully say, an AARP candidate, live alone, no heirs. If I go on a binge and hold off the collectors until I die, they have to eat the loss?

This may be the best consumer tip I've ever received. I think I'll take a cab to Palm Springs on my credit card.

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
ARP
January 16, 2009 6:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@StutiCebriones: If you have no kids and no spouse/civil partner/co-signeer, then yes. Note, it will come out of your estate, so if you want to leave money to someone, I'd adivse against it.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
TropicalLogic
January 16, 2009 8:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ARP: Why not just give the money as presents before one dies? If you want to leave money to say... your butler/nurse, do it when you know you have 3-4 months to live and then you should be in the clear!

Or is there a law against this?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Miguel Valdespino
January 16, 2009 5:07 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@StutiCebriones: Of course if you try this, then you'll probably have the bad luck to live a really long life. Then again, you might just live past the statute of limitations of the debt.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
chrisjames
January 16, 2009 3:59 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Time to get a new lawyer.

Harassment is a clear violation of FDCPA rules. So is collecting a debt without validation, ignoring demands to cease communication, calling people not associated with the debt (anyone), and probably plenty more. The actual code is that each violation is up to 1000 dollars, which means each call and letter, so that instantly pays for the lawyer. At the least a lawsuit will shut them up.

What their \"family lawyer\" should have done was refer them to a consumer lawyer that specializes in FDCPA violations. There are plenty of them out there and they don't mind taking on bastards like this. If they can get one that also works with FCRA violations, they can stick it the CRAs in case they're sluggish in removing any false credit reports. I found mine through a Consumerist post. Search for \"Consumer Lawyer\" here to see how to do it.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
mantari
January 16, 2009 4:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

When my ex died, we called SBC (now AT&T) to shut off the telephone service. No problem there. Except, they started sending letters (now forwarded to his family) asking more or less, \"now that he's gone, don't you want to clear his good name and pay off his remaining bill?\"

I thought it was despicable that they would do that. And in that way.

Reply
1 replies
","
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 4:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

As a NY taxpayer, I would really like to see our AG get on shit like this. It's despicable, just base thuggery. These people aren't just a nuisance, they're fucking criminals. If Cuomo really wants Clinton's vacant senate seat, he could do worse than making a public examples of the scum who pull shit like this.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
richcreamerybutter
January 16, 2009 7:34 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@tc4b: This would be consistent with his other work. I just think there is so much scum to deal with in the state of NY that trying to make a public example of every injustice is probably overwhelming.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Paul Hibbard
January 16, 2009 4:01 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

just another reason to hate them even more....

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 4:01 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Paul Hibbard: Hate is no good. Where's the law? Prosecute these assholes.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Paul Hibbard
January 16, 2009 4:13 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@tc4b: even better if it worked.

Reply
","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Suulia
January 16, 2009 4:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

My grandmother passed away just over 20 years ago, and the hospital where she died went after my mother to pay grandma's hospital bill.

After Mom talked to the administrator of the hospital, he explained that the collector gets to keep a percentage of what they collect, and asked the collector to stop calling, which worked.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
bohemian
January 16, 2009 5:43 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Suulia: Avera Health Systems went after some family for their deceased father's hospital bill. The family had to fight them to the state supreme court before Avera would quit pursuing them for the debt. Classy.

Reply
","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
JGBrock
January 16, 2009 5:23 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I had a good friend from work die suddenly from a undiagnosed heart ailment. He was 32. We got calls at work starting a few months later from bill collectors. Most would not call back once you told them why he was not answering their calls. The bill collector working for Sprint would not beleive it. He told me that he \"was gonna need me to fax a death certificate\" I told him sure thing, go stand by the machine jackass.

Reply
1 replies
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Trick
January 16, 2009 5:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Could they change their number to a new un-listed number?

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 5:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

A few people have suggested changing phone #'s, and I disagree. I would understand if the poor parents took this route, couldn't fault them, really. But to me it's like saying: \"We have roaches. Time to move!\" Fuck those

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
chrisjames
January 16, 2009 8:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@tc4b: It doesn't work anyway. Debt collectors pay for services to track down people. They'll get the new number in less than a month, I'm sure.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
SabyneWired
January 16, 2009 5:50 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: I call troll and shenanigans on this guy. Seriously pretty much every post he's made on this blog has been some holier-than-thou drivel about him being better than the OP for some reason. He really doesn't have much else to offer that isn't some at least semi-offensive BS.

Reply
","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
econobiker
January 16, 2009 6:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Some of these scuzballs have bought the debt for ¢ on the $ so calling a dead persons family is worth it to them.

Reply
","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Hotscot
January 16, 2009 6:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Last year a collector for Verizon hounded me over a bill for...and I asked them to be clear...Three zero zero zero cents.
At first I thought he was saying $3000 and then I eventually realised he was saying 30 bucks!
I told him yes I do have a visa card and it's one of the new European ones with numbers and letters.
I asked him to take the details down.

Namely 0000-1111-FxxK-Yxo! (replace the x's as needed.)

He hung up on me. I then called Verizon and they moved fast to cancel it once I pointed out there are other phone companies.

Reply
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 16, 2009 7:48 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

All debts come from only his estate. The parents are in no way required to pay these debts. In many states the heirs also receive an exempt amount, $10k to $20k, before the collectors are entitled to any money. Debt collectors do this continuously hoping that they can trick the heirs into paying them. They know the law, they just hope you don't. Even the IRS will try to pull this on you.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
P_Smith
January 16, 2009 8:13 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Is this the new form of \"zombie debts\"? That the pricks expect the deceased to come back to life to pay?

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 8:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@P_Smith: I don't think they care WHO pays. Seems like they'd just as soon pick a name at random out of a phone book and start shaking them down. In fact, that would seem more dignified to me than harassing some parents about their dead son's debt.

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
boomersix
January 16, 2009 9:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I had a collector calling me saying I owed like 800$ from years ago. I said \"I'm disputing that\", they said \"fine, we'll send you all the info\" and I haven't heard a thing since.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
RurouniX
January 16, 2009 10:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

'm 27 nd f nyn vr clld my prnts tllng thm hd ny dbt tsd f cr ln r mrtgg r f ws s lt n pymnt tht thy hd t strt hrssng my fmly...my dd wld ltrlly gt n hs cr...drv vr hr...nd gv m swft kck n th ss.

fl srry fr ths prnts hvng t dl wth ths BS frm cllctn gncs ftr th dth f thr sn...bt t's thr wn flt ltmtly. Thy shld hv tght thr sn mr rspnsblty. mn...t ws sddn nd nxpctd...s t's nt lk thr sn ws stckd wth mdcl blls. Tht wld mn smn ws bvsly lvng bynd thr mns. Th nly thr pssblty s cllg lns...whch sd bfr 'm 27 t nd pd mn ff lrdy.

Nt tryng t snd lk jckss hr bt...'m cllng t wht t s. gss 'm bs t bcs th ldy wh sts n frnt f m t wrk ls gts clls frm dbt cllctrs fr hr dghtr (wh s ls my g)...nd gt t hr hr cry nd yll t thm whl 'm tryng t b prdctv -_-

Reply
19 replies
\"user-pic\"
Ajh
January 18, 2009 4:07 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: disemvoweled for a good reason.

I'm 26. My assets will cover all but about $2000 I have left from school. Would it be fair at all for bank of america to call my parents for that? I wasn't irresponsible. I'm paying my loans slowly.

It's not like he racked up a bunch of debt and died on purpose. Get real.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
goldenmonkey
January 27, 2009 11:11 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Lol. I'm 32 and still have student loans to pay. I have an acquaintance that just hit 40...STILL HAS STUDENT LOANS. I don't know what kind of school the original poster went to or what sort of tuition he had to pay, but I grew up lower class (factory working parents, etc), and the $6,000 a semester wasn't so easy for me to cover. Especially since I never got a job in the field afterwards. Then jobs came and went, emotional and mental problems arose, and the loans every now and then go into forbearance or deferment. Like right now. I got laid off at 6 months pregnant. I had thought I'd finally gotten my head above water, was paying all my bills and debts on time for a couple years...then LAID OFF *AND* pregnant. So to have money for food and rent, and the impending child, certain debts have to go back on the back-burner. It always amuses me that some people just can't comprehend that one simple cliché: sh1t happens.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
parliboy
January 16, 2009 10:05 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: My student loan interest rate is 2%. Why in the world would I pay it off any sooner than I have to when I can get get better than that even in this lousy economy? I'm far happier putting additional income into safer investments instead.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Gmork
January 16, 2009 5:32 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX:
I was going to leave a comment about what a dumb ass comment RurouniX's was, but it seems he's had his ass handed to him already.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
floraposte
January 16, 2009 5:28 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: Huh? I don't keep a credit card balance, but if I died in the next five minutes I'd die with credit card debt, because the current charges would go unpaid. Ditto for all my utilities and my house payment (I don't have a car payment). Put it another way--if you died today, unless you have no payment responsibilities in your name, you'd die with debt, just like this guy.

People can't magically limit their kicking off to just after they've paid up and before they've incurred any new charges.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
AustinTXProgrammer
January 16, 2009 5:26 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: Good reason to point out that debt collectors aren't supposed to disclose this to parents...

I ran up a huge debt with medical bills for my fiance a number of years ago, got laid off, and took a huge pay cut to get back to work after 4 months. Before all that happened I was paying off my cards every month, but I never could dig back out.

There is another lesson there. Even if you pay your bills in full each month, you are 30 days behind, and that much closer to the brink if something goes wrong.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
dragonvpm
January 16, 2009 5:18 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: Yeah, sorry but you are so far into jackass territory it's not even funny. Plus to use your logic someone should tell YOUR parents that they did a piss poor job of teaching you how to empathize with people and show a little compassion. They also failed at teaching you how to not jump to conclusions about other people.

You pretty much assume that because you went to a cheap no-name college or you had parents who let you mooch off of them so you didn't have lots of debt after college that everyone should be in the same boat and anyone who isn't is a loser who was careless with their money and that's pretty stupid.

Oh wait, did I just make harsh, unfair assumptions about your life and financial situation? Oops. Kinda sucks doesn't it? Truth is your parents probably did do a good job teaching you how to manage your finances and they and you should be commended for that, but you're way off topic in a thoroughly obnoxious and cold blooded way on this one.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Charlotte Rae's Web
January 16, 2009 5:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: Wow you are an amazing psychic to know what his debt exactly is.

You are making assumptions based on your own life that could be wrong.

His death may have been sudden but he might still have other medical bills to something unrelated. So what he's 27, maybe he went back to college at 24 and had student debt. Perhaps he was opening or owned a business. Maybe he had a child and put something big on his card like braces (the trend is now at 8 or 9). And yeah all of that could be on his credit card.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
thegirls
January 16, 2009 5:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: Sounds like your parents may not have raised you well enough either as you seem to show absolutely no compassion for others and judge situations that you obviously know little about.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 5:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@thegirls: Excellent point. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we all started calling his parents to remind them of this several times a week.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
varro
January 16, 2009 5:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: It's also his fault for dying suddenly and depriving a huge corporation of money.

The parents should also be sued for not raising a healthier child or finding the heart defect sooner. Their negligence cost a huge corporation money.

That's what's wrong with this country - people don't respect the authoritay! of huge corporations. Giving them a measly $700 billion? Pocket change for a large financial corporation's board.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
tekkierich
January 16, 2009 4:57 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX:

You are being a jackass. It is sometimes incredibly hard to figure out the deceased financial situation. If one has bills, and dies, even if they have money it can be hard for the family to find all of those who the deceased owes money to before the accounts go to collections.

Secondly if there are no assets then needing to go through probate to get the bloodhounds to stop calling is incredibly onerous. Bottom line, the parents are not liable for their sons debts and should tell the collectors to buzz off. The problem is getting them to respect that.

I have a year and a half to go on a self imposed five year boycott on Dell computers after they would not stop harrasing me for a ex-roomates bill.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 4:57 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: BTW, that lady in front of you at work, have you taken the time to tell her what a bad parent she's been? I'll bet she'd love hearing it from you.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
TemporaryAphasia
January 16, 2009 4:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: It doesn't say how much he owed though - just says \"credit card debts.\" And there can be good reasons for someone having some credit card debt besides irresponsible spending - like unexpected car repairs, or having to rely on credit cards for a while for living expenses after being laid off. Without something saying that he racked up a ton buying solid gold dog shoes or whatever, it's a leap to assume it was purely because of irresponsible spending habits.

I think saying it's their own fault and that they should have taught him more responsibility is pretty darn harsh and, well, a little jackassish. They're not responsible for their son's debts and shouldn't be harassed about it by debt collection, nor are they responsible for their adult son's actions.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
tc4b
January 16, 2009 4:54 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: ARe you fucking kidding me? So ANYONE with ANY debt outside of car and hour EVER deserves an ass kicking? That's basically what you're saying, because, like it or not, you could die any second of any day.

I use credit cards for a lot of stuff and pay them off completely every month, for a number of reasons. But, by your logic, if I died midmonth, the remaining balance on my cc would be my parents for not raising me to be responsible?

These people lost a son, and you don't have any idea how responsible or not he was, only that he had debt. Have a little respect, as in not assuming people being harassed by debt collectors are bad parents.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
larrymac808
January 16, 2009 4:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: You might not have been trying to sound like a jackass, but ya did, Blanch, ya did. Who said anything about the son having late payments? As noted in the article, one of the creditors was Macy's. So the guy had a Macy's card and maybe ran a balance. That's not irresponsible use of credit. Heck, maybe he didn't even run a balance, but had an outstanding amount that he'd planned on paying off if he hadn't so inconveniently gone and DIED.


You fail at human compassion.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
DePaulBlueDemon
January 16, 2009 5:52 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@larrymac808:

Exactly! The article does not state that he lapsed on his payments when he was alive. The debt collectors are ILLEGALLY trying to collect the money he owed after his death.

My father passed away 8 years ago and I had to deal with the same crap. We had to fax Citi and Chase his death certificate like 4 times each (no joke) until they finally closed his stupid accounts. It was the most ridiculous thing in the world, it's like they didn't believe that he actually died. They made me feel so horrible. I kept thinking, \"Oh yeah? Let me go check... Nope, still dead. Thanks for reminding me.\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 16, 2009 4:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RurouniX: Prefacing your statement with \"not trying to sound like a jackass here\" doesn't mean you're not being a jackass. A lot of people don't have their student loans paid off by 27. Maybe he was still in school. Maybe he had medical bills from a prior situation. We don't know the details at all, so your closed-minded assumption that he was living beyond his means and that the parents are at fault is ridiculous.

Reply
","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
RStui
January 19, 2009 3:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

This is the purpose of Probate. The estate enters probate, all the outstanding creditors are notified, the debts are discharged OR the creditors write them off, depending on the size of the estate/debts. The rest is divided up per the will.


They should take these collectors to court for harrassment, most definitely. And change their number.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
January 22, 2009 8:25 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Just an FYI, there is an identity theft scheme that involves calling people posing as collection agencies in order to confirm your personal and private information under the guise of collecting a debt. If you are not in collections or do not owe debt period, and you get these calls like someone else here mentioned do not answer their questions. If you are sure that none of it is actually related to a legitimate debt, then take down as much information as possible on where and who to send payment to, including their phone number if you have caller ID, and then turn over all the information to law enforcement. These so-called debt collectors are phishing, and not just by email, either.

Reply
","");