<p>Should my friend just stop paying on her credit cards…call up the companies and just tell them she can no longer afford to pay the monthly payments?</p>
<p>My 72 year old friend with a fixed income has managed to run up her credit cards–she is disorganized with a host of physical and emotional problems (another subject). She has no family to assist her and is deteriorating. </p>
<p>Her income is about $1250 mo. Her basic expenses now are $1330 mo. and $280 of that $1300 is credit card payments. I looked over all her expenses…not much to trim really. Because she is keeping up the payments on the cards she is having to defer essential services (dental for herself, veterinarian for her cat and dog, auto maintenance, she waits too long to buy eyeglass frames…by the time she can afford them her prescription is too weak). She’s starting to borrow from friends.<br>
I’m not a fan of irresponsibility but this situation seems rather hopeless. Should she ditch the credit card payments? Even if she got the payments reduced, it would not help much. She has no assets.</p>
<p>Wow, tough one. Your friend is lucky to have someone who cares enough to be concerned and want to help.</p>
<p>I’m usually adamantly opposed to skipping out on debt, but this case seems different. However, I don’t know that just ceasing to pay is a good idea, because it might be that a court could eventually order her Social Security checks garnished. (I don’t know the law on this). </p>
<p>What about bankruptcy? It will hit her credit, of course, but at this point, so what?</p>
<p>One thing I know for sure – she needs to stop putting new charges on the cards. If she doesn’t want to cut them up, maybe she’d trust you to keep them for her.</p>
<p>If she is in the SF Bay area, there should be senior and disability services to provide who with detailed assistance at discount rates. Check with senior and social services.</p>
<p>Does she have any other assets that can help …</p>
<ul>
<li>A home … with home equity that could be tapped at a lower interest rate than the credit cards</li>
<li>A 401k or IRA or any assets</li>
<li>A life insurance policy that has some cash value that could be used</li>
<li>A car that isn’t being used?</li>
</ul>
<p>Are there any assets that could be applied to reduce the debt?</p>
<p>There are groups that can help her with this… Get a list of them Consumer Credit Counseling used to be one of them. Find a non profit group in the area that will meet with her and help advocate for her. They may even be able to get some of these charges lowered as well as the interest rate. They can also assess if it is even feasible for her to pay those bills and maybe recommend bankruptcy.</p>
<p>I agree - that’s cruelty to animals, and lack of finances is not a reasonable excuse. (There are sometimes vets who will help out those who can’t afford the care needed otherwise - as a friend, you could inquire for her.)</p>
<p>In our area, Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services offer free credit counseling for seniors and will even take over bill payment/contact creditors, when necessary. A local church has an outreach program that provides financial assistance with rent and food; recipients need not be church members. If you contact a local senior center or county department of aging services, you can get a list of possible avenues of support.</p>
<p>Re her eye care needs - the local Lions Club probably has a fund for assisting needy community members with glasses and exam costs.</p>
<p>^Or just keep one pet, cat or dog? Eyeglasses; get the presciption when she has the money ready? All she needs is shaving $80 per month or about 6% of her current expense.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the suggestions. I didn’t paint the picture as dire as it probably is. Friend is emotionally and physically crippled and has very little support for a variety of reasons. Her pets are her companions (she has in the past gotten assistance with vet bills but usually these were significant charges…half went on her credit card, half paid by some wonderful folks). She clings to those pets and while I agree she should not have them, I don’t think she could emotionally handle the loss. I know, absolutely not right.</p>
<p>I’ve been down the road with all the social services agencies trying to get her help. She has no assets except an old car. She does not qualify for any of the governmental services except medical and housing of which both are subsidized. She’s fortunate there and in reality she is in a better financial position than many needy families because she is single. As far as in-home services such as cleaning or assistance with grocery shopping, she’d have to pay for that through the county and she refuses to do that. Tried that–she’d have to give up something for that but I think it’s headed there as she becomes more immobile. Her life is TV, phone, pets, newspaper. She’s a hoarder, lonely, depressed, desperate, forgotten, avoided by past “friends”. She lives in a world of fantasy, not being able to face the reality of her situation.</p>
<p>What is left is what many of you have suggested…to get volunteer services and I think I am going to try to make an appt with a senior ombudsman. I figured I’d try to help first to get her some immediate relief on her income availability. Her credit cards are maxed out so she can’t charge to them anyway and the balances just keep growing since she pays the minimum. I think it costs money to declare bankruptcy (?)…was thinking about helping her write a letter to the credit card companies, spell out her situation and indicate she can no longer pay anything. I don’t think they will bother putting her out to collections & even if they reduce her payments significantly it probably costs them more to process the payments than it’s worth to them. They can’t touch her social security checks–I looked into it.</p>
<p>She’s probably eligible for meals on wheels, which would eliminate at least some of her food costs. Depending on her out-of-pocket medical expenses, she might be “medically indigent” and eligible for better Rx drug coverage on her Part D medical. If she ever served in the military – or had a spouse who ever served in the military – she might be eligible for the VA Aid and Attendance benefit (a local veterans service organization might help with that.) Our humane society has a pet food bank – perhaps there’s one in your area as well? She might be eligible for lifeline (highly discounted) local phone service if she isn’t already getting that, and some utilities have special rates too. On the glasses front, opticians at Wal-Mart often run specials like $69 or $89 for a complete pair.</p>
<p>I went through some of this with my uncle a few months ago. Our system for connecting frail seniors with resources is absolutely terrible. His senior center even has two competing senior transportation services, neither of which tells you about the other even though they have different cost structures and income limitations. Aargh. </p>
<p>Has she had a history of poor fiscal management, or is her financial situation due to some significant event (eg major medical bills, loss of spouse, etc)? I ask because it sheds a better light onto her ability to reasonably see her way out of this mess. I agree that she should probably explore bankrupcy if the consumer credit counseling services have already been explored. There are probably on-line quick forms available, or maybe legal aid can help.</p>
<p>If she is a hoarder,has she been going to garage sales and picking things up? If so, thats a place to intervene via the local community mental health services. Is a garage sale an option?</p>
<p>Your description of her “borrowing” from friends is generous. She isn’t “borrowing” as she is not able to return it. She is taking, if you and other friends let her. Frankly, that is very generous but that doesnt solve the problem. Does she belong to a church/synagogue or other organization that could do a fundraiser for her? By the way, the VA aid and attendance is a great idea, if she qualifies. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hi. Elder law atty here chiming in. Based on your friend’s age and her income level, my guess is that all or most of her income is from Social Security. SS is not attachable which means that no creditor can go after it. When I have clients in your friend’s situation, I usually write a letter on client’s behalf (or ghostwrite it for the family) to the credit card company spelling out the client’s age, the fact that her sole source of income is SS, that she feels really bad about the situation but is just flat out unable to pay, that the claim is essentially uncollectable, so they should really just write off the balance due and leave her alone. I cite a federal statute which will have them owing her if they start chasing her after being told to back off. We also request that the card be cancelled so no new debt can accrue. The credit card company still has the option to sue to collect, but other than that, they can’t chase her by phone or letters if they have been instructed not to. It usually helps to take some pressure off the elder. There shouldn’t be any reason for your friend to have to go the bankruptcy route to resolve this problem. (BTW, my letter was originally created at the suggestion of my collection lawyer husband who usually is on the chasing end of things so he knows what works from a creditor perspective.)</p>
<p>That is only a short term solution however. Around here, we have “Councils on Aging” (aka Senior Centers) which are staffed by wonderful outreach workers and frequently visited by elder law attys who are donating their time. The outreach workers assess needs, and then serve as clearinghouse referral source to other agencies who can meet the client’s needs. They can also help with applications for benefits, including directing clients to people certified by the VA to help with A&A applications for eligible vets and their spouses. You shouldn’t have to try to figure all of this out yourself. There has to be some similar local source in CA.</p>
<p>If you want to go the private route, check out naela.org and search for an elder law atty by your friend’s zip code. We all tend to be very giving people, and often will help direct callers to other resources even when the caller is not able to afford our usual services. Worth a try.</p>
<p>OP, here’s another resource for your friend to assist with her eye care needs: [EyeCare</a> America - The Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology](<a href=“http://www.eyecareamerica.org%5DEyeCare”>http://www.eyecareamerica.org) . It’s the public service program sponsored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. It provides eye exams and up to a year of care for eye diseases at no out-of-pocket costs to eligible seniors over age 65. The MDs who participate in the program waive co-payments and deductibles and accept Medicare as full payment. (Bless those folks!) </p>
<p>I think she might still want to contact the Lions Club for help in paying for new eyeglasses.</p>
<p>Another possible way to cut down on medication expenses - most pharma companies have limited patient assistance programs that provide drugs at no cost for needy patients. As I understand it, there are hoops to be jumped through and an MD or social worker may have to get involved, but these programs do assist some people, and perhaps your friend could be one of them. Here’s a link to Alcon’s program - it’s a company that has assisted one of our seniors: [Alcon</a> Assistance Program](<a href=“http://www.alcon.com/en/corporate-responsibility/patient-clinic-inst-assistance.aspx]Alcon”>Corporate Social Responsibility | Alcon.com)</p>
<p>OP here. I will call the Council on Aging this week. I wrote up a couple letters this past weekend for friend to give to her credit card companies…MJSMom, the letters were almost exactly as you suggested. I will see how it goes with the Council and then maybe try to private route as many of your have suggested if I’m not successful.</p>
<p>Visited friend this weekend. Squalor. She needs a better informed advocate plus physical and mental therapy. Thanks for the encouragement!</p>