Credit Card Debt Owed By Grandmother, Help Pls

my grandmother is 89 years old and she lives in a nursing home. her only source of income is social Security which goes towards her care. she used to live with me and i have been recieving calls & letters from collections companies. i've just found out that she owes like 25,000$ on her credit card debts. i've tried explaining to these agencies that my grandma has no source of income, no assets, and they still keep on calling. i seriously want these calls to stop.

Hi DearAbbey,

Since this is considered a "benefit," Social Security income cannot be garnished due to your grandmother's non-payment. In essence, she is "judgment proof," which means that even if her creditors attempt to sue her, they would not be able to collect any amount from her.

You may choose to send a letter in behalf of your grandmother, requesting that no calls would no longer be made. Explain her situation to them; at the same time, if you or other family members jointly share some accounts with her, make sure to make payments on her behalf.

If you are still receiving calls in spite of the Cease and Desist request, you may want to consult a lawyer, as this is a violation of the Fair Debt Practices Act.

I agree, you may want to send a Cease and Desist letter to the collection agencies. Or, as a lot of sons and daughters do for their elderly family members, you can send over a Power of Attorney on their behalf. Under the FDCPA if these agencies receive the Power of Attorney they by law have to contact you instead.

I would also make sure she does not have any large sums of money in a bank account. While Karess is accurate in stating they cannot garnish social security, or put a lien on her home (because she does not have one), they could potentially try and execute a judgment through a bank account levy.

The best way to clear this up of course is to resolve the debts. Since the accounts are in collections, the option to settle the debts should be readily available to you. If you are willing to pay off a portion of your grandmother's debts, you may want to contact the agencies and ask for a settlement offer.

Or, you can fill out a form on DestroyDebt.Com for a free consultation. There are a lot of honest settlement companies out there who would be more than happy to work on your grandmother's behalf. Considering she is basically "judgment proof" as Karess mentioned, she is a decent candidate for this approach.