American Family Credit Card Debt

In Jan of 07' I was experiencing a hard time, struggling with school, my moms surgerys, and brothers seizures. I got this American Express credit card in the mail (did not apply for that), that said I was approved and had a credit limit of $2000. So i activated it and used it for Clothes, and food shopping for the house, etc. On that card I used $1600 worth of items.
I then check my credit report and saw I had a credit score of 780. I thought to myself and made a bad choice....

* In Jan 07 - May 07 I applied to several credit card companies for credit cards, using a fake birthday to make me 1yr older, and I wound up getting 4 chase credit cards, 1 more amex, sears, Orchard bank, Target, Zales, Credit one, Capital one, Imagine, sears & a gas card. But I used all chase cards, Credit one, Capital one, Imagine and the gas card and cancelled the other amex, target and zales. I used in total 17,000 worth of money. Since i moved out of the house in Jan 07 I used some for rent $900 monthly for 2 months, Went to disney ($2600) and $1000 for spending $. I used $450 for food, Most of it went to gas, utilities, feeding my friends 2 kids, myself, my bf at the time, and my friends girlfriend. I bought my brother a $550 Gold Necklace, $300 IPOD, and Clothes. I bought a $900 Bull terrier dog, an additional 500 in supplies and microchipping for the dog. I bought a $1500, 52 inch plasma screen tv. Furniture such as couch, night stands, whole new kitchen ware set for $1000. I bought my mom a $100 boquet of flowers and had it delivered to her for $50. I got a ring for $200 and my nails done for $50. I got my hair done for $75. I bought a Computer for $900 at walmart. I took a trip to south carolina in a car and purchased gas for that for $200, then had to come right back with another $200.

** I really did alot of damage, I know. I regret it dearly. Im right now so stressed about it that i cannot sleep, I think frequently about running away and never seeing my family or friends again, I cant sleep for the second time, i get severe SEVERE migranes. I cannot really talk about it, Im scared to use my social security # for anything.
I dont know what to do.

Can I be held liable for this because I was 17?
Can my parents be held liable eventhough they didnt know till the damage was done?
If I claim Bankrupt will the judge ask me how did i accumlate this debt so fast and why is it 2 yrs old when 2yrs ago i was 17. What can I do.

*Please don't criticize me for this either. I know what I did and im paying for it with my life basically*

Im sure its hard going through all that, i understand easily how you could spend all that money it got your mind off of the other stuff that was going on in your life; You might be able to get out of it; but you not only owe a bunch of money, you comitted fraud. best thing you could do is talk to a debt consuler; And bankruptcy might be the easy way out; being your so young it will effect your credit; but your young, better to take the plung now and get out in 7 years effected but to the point that you've learned your lesson.

Your parents wont be liable unless they co-signed, however they may still try to sue your parents for the money; it would be a tough fight, but they might win.

The sad thing is today, a lot of teenagers are under stress and to us, its a simple and easy way to get our minds off of what is going on in our real life by doing exactly what you did; Between school, relationships, and family issues, and possibly having to get/hold a job to make payments on stuff; its hard, and unfortunately you will pay for what you did; It sucks i know.

Plus with credit cards you don't realize how much you are spending until you get that statement; because you don't actually see the money leaving your hands.

Good Luck with your issue, don't do anything stupid like running away lol, and i hope your mom and brother are doing better. You need to be with your family and friends right now, dont do any drugs or screw your life up in that sense; You've made one bad mistake, dont make others because of it

Good Luck!

2008-09-16 19:37:35 by vnewhalljr

My hero, Dave Ramsey, tells of abusive practices and the violation of Federal law incorporated by debt collectors - particularly credit card debt ...

In June I called American Debt Settlement Services to help me out with 3 credit cards I have. I have had these cards since 2001 and up until June I could not come up w/ any of their minimum balances. Well, the debt service made everything sound do wonderful and I was relieved, so I went along with their program. At that point, I asked Yahoo answers about Debt Settlement and they said it was a scam. So I opted out of it at the beginning of August, put a stop payment on my account and faxed over a letter of termination. Now, don't know what to do 2 of my creditors have now put me in collections. I am a respected family person and times are tough!! I am afraid of the next step.. Should I apply for a home equity loan, a bank loan, I do not want to file for bankruptcy. I owe between the two cards 27,000.00. One of my creditor I have worked out a plan with. The other two will not talk to me unless the have my husbands permission. Whenever they call he is not home he is a firefighter and his hours always fluctuate-Please what would you do? The stress is killing me. I don't want my 8 year old daughter to see me like this...

You do not want to take out a loan or home equity. This is like chasing your losses and is counter productive, especially since it may threaten your home. The options of consumer credit counseling, debt consolidation and/or bankruptcy are expensive and unnecessarily prolonged Your best bet is to settle these debts down. However, you may need help in doing it. Remember there are many bad apples in the debt settlement industry but not all of them have bad intentions. I suggest you do your research and find out who has the right affiliations, who is a member of TASC and who has no complaints on the BBB site.

I wish you luck with this. Remember health comes first so do not let this problem impair that.

2009-08-16 15:08:31 by Amykins44

Price: $22.95

I am suspicious because the woman who called lied about sending letters to an old address and I wonder if most of what she said was a lie.

I am a 72-yr-old woman, living on Soc. Sec. & a $270 pension. I had to move from CA to No. NV to live on that, away from family & friends. I fell behind because I couldn't work after I
I had a stroke, but I tried to pay my debts through a consolidation co. However, it didn't leave anything for emergencies, and I had to stop. This company said a $3,600 debt had grown to $44,000 in the 12 yrs since I paid anything, and it was in the hands of a lawyer who was going to attach my pension. They wanted $2,200 immediately to settle it. I paid $200 that week from Mother's Day and birthday gifts, but would have to borrow $2,000 for the rest by 6/6. My questions: Since I didn't receive any letters or calls, can a lawyer attach my pension? Is a debt this old even collectible? Is a pension attachable with my financial circumstances? Hope you can help.

You shouldn't have paid anything. Now you might be back on the hook for the whole amount because you acknowledge the debt by making a payment. The amount of time to collect a debt is SEVEN years, no matter what lies a collection agency might want to tell you. After seven years of non-payment it must be wiped off the consumer's credit report and no further action can be taken.

BTW, after thinking about it you should just tell them to take a hike. Your pension cannot be attached (think OJ Simpson) and you are on a fixed income. Any lawyer worth anything wouldn't come after you because you have nothing to attach.

Rest easy, nothings going to happen.

2007-05-27 21:24:37 by Edie B

Hi my question is the following I have one credit cards form mbna and other from Bank of America, the balance on both of those cards is around 4 thousand dollars. Last year I had to come back to Venezuela due to families problems also my visa expired.

I haven't make any payments in a year now since the situation to get American dollars is horrible here. and I am worried because I don't know what is going to happen. Next year I am planning to apply for a tourist visa, you guys think that this could affect my chances of getting it? Thank you

No, this will not affect your ability to get a tourist visa.

2007-06-22 22:57:58 by josecarrillomata

The Squeezing of America's Middle Class


(April 16) - The idea of a thriving middle class has always been at the heart of the American dream. The concept really took off in the wake of World War II, when the GI Bill started helping everyday Americans pay for college or vocational education and take out loans to buy homes.

By the 1950s, TV shows like "Leave It to Beaver" were presenting an idealized picture of middle-class life. Dad worked, Mom took care of the kids, and there wasn't much talk about how they'd pay the bills.

But today the American middle class is struggling.

"It seems as if health care, retirement security, being able to pay for kids' college, being able to hold on to and afford a home are real sources of anxiety for middle-class Americans today," Jacob Hacker, a professor of political science at Yale University, told Sunday Morning correspondent Rita Braver.

Hacker, an author of a new book that focuses on problems facing America's middle class, says the middle class is more of a symbol than a concrete definition.

"I think the symbol is people who are not rich, who have to work hard, usually both parents are working," he said. "They probably have children, that's sort of the image that we have. It's a hard-working middle-class family with kids, making $60,000 to $80,000 a year and feeling really strained economically."

My hubby and I are right there with everything you said.
We filed for bankruptcy back in 2001, since then things have been better for us. We have only one credit card which we try to pay off each month. We don't have many of the fancy things that many people have such as a house, new cars or other luxury items. We are very happy with what we do have though and don't really miss many of the things we don't have. Everyone has their own set of priorities and as long as your happy, good for you. It's the people who seemingly have everything and are never happy. I just don't understand them.

2007-04-16 09:34:57 by marnefirstinfantry