[USER]

4 Years ago I divorced and to help build my Credit my son opened Credit cards in my name.

He was at the time working and spending on them and paying them off.

He also send me to a trip on CC as a gift. Lots of bumbs along the way and bad financial decisions and now I have over 36 plus another 9 thousand I just found out about wtf thousand debt on my Cards he is paying the minimum.

Should I work on it pay it and he pay me back or let him deal …

He is 28 not married figuring out his life and looking for a new job ..

I don’t have alot if savings or investments I am in the process of building myself up …..

but this definitely lowered my credit score ..

[Molly]

That doesn’t sound like a gift, that sounds like theft. Can you consolidate into a personal loan and lower your interest?

[Elizabeth]

First off, no more of your kids opening accounts in your name.

If you need a card, then you should open it and control it.

I’d recommend you freeze your credit so your kid doesn’t do more damage here.

If the cards are in your name, then it’s your responsibility.

Take the cards away from your kid and work on a plan to pay this off.

Take away any online access your kid has to these cards and put an alert of them so you are notified whenever a charge goes through

[Meghan]

You need to get all the cards and change the account log in credentials immediately.

He didn’t do you a single favor here.

[Diane]

He needs to stop using credit cards in your name now. Take them and change your account passwords.

He needs to get two jobs, any jobs, to pay those down ASAP.

You need to be the one to make sure he is paying on time and way more than the minimum because it’s your credit on the line.

He should be giving you the money and you pay it.

Maybe he won’t get the jobs he wants but he needs to take anything he can find now and send every extra dollar towards that debt.

If he lives at home with you then he should be able to pay this off asap with hard work.

Sorry you are in this unfortunate situation but it’s a lesson for both of you.

Good luck.

[Sherri]

Cut up the cards and no more spending on them. Then the next goal is to pay them off as quickly as possible.

Paying the minimum could take 50+ yrs.

Seriously look at the statement and by law they have to tell you how long it’ll take to pay off using just the minimums.

And since they are in your name they legally are your responsibility.

[Sheila]

You have to start over from scratch. It’s going to hurt but it was an expensive lesson you both had to learn.

[Corissa]

I meaaan, you took a a trip on it knowing he couldn’t afford it (since he had to use credit in the first place) so yeah, I’d also work on paying it off, unfortunately.

Bad decisions all around, which we all make!

Just saw he was paying your car insurance on it too…

did you not know that?

This sounds more like your credit card than his.

[John]

If you just now learned about it, turn him in for financial fraud/identity theft.

let him pay the price, both financially and legally.

If you knew about it and went along, then this is all on you.

Perhaps a debt consolidation loan is the way to go.

[Cindy]

He needs to hustle and pay more than minimum on those! AND stop spending money on anything that is NOT essential to live!

[Stacey]

Dave Ramsey to figure out a budget
Cut ‘em up, freeze them, but it stop using them.

Get credit on your own.

Yes it will be low, but can build up quickly.

[Josh]

You could look at doing a home equity if you own your home to lower the payments and have an actual plan.

[Jeffery]

Time to separate finances, he is old enough to get his own cards (or maybe he does and racked debt up on those too?).

You’ll have to come up with some amicable terms to get him to pay you back.

Start following Dave Ramsey and use his steps to get these paid off.

[Rashad]

This is why I cringe when people file bankruptcy and come to various forums asking how to get their credit up.

You were much better off back then, prior to all of this extra debt.

You owe the money, so you may as well get an extra job and pay it off.

Unless you are bankrupt, just get ready to pay it off.

Forgive your son from the debt because he doesn’t have the money.

Don’t let anyone else ever spend a dime of your money.

[Kelly]

Has he given you the credit cards back? He has proven he is irresponsible with them.

He does not need to be charging another penny on them

[Ella]

Where did this brilliant idea come from? you or him?

[Adam]

Your son needs to work 100 hours a week and pay his debt off

[Chilling]

Remove him from the accounts immediately. Tell the banks you lost your card and have them send you new ones (so he can’t keep using them).

Afterward tell him! He can’t be continuing to rack up debt in your name.

Ask him to pay them off by consolidating into a personal loan or maybe transfer to a 0% credit card for now if he qualifies.

But most definitely cut off his access TODAY before things get worse.

[Nicole]

I think at this point you are responsible for the debt…both legally and in principle.

You essentially made him a verbal authorized user on your cards so I would not necessarily expect him to pay them.

You made a not so great decision to allow your son (with an underdeveloped frontal lobe at the time) to utilize the cards unchecked (bc 36k doesn’t happen over night) for 4 years and now all of the debt is in your name.

It would be nice of him to pay it off as quickly as he racked it up but honestly if it were my son, and I made that decision, I’d eat the debt.

[Dawn]

Sounds like he needs multiple jobs to help pay down the debt. He needs to buckle down and take responsibility for his spending.

Does he live with you?

Charge him rent and use that to pay towards the cards.

No more spending

[Tom]

28 is plenty old to figure out life without help. I am confident in saying we probably have millionaires in this group who are that age if not younger.

Close those cards today, then tell him to pay them off yesterday.

It’s time to put on a little heat.

[Amanda]

Have him take out a personal loan and pay off your cards, take his name off of them, and he can pay the loan.

If some of it is actually YOUR debt, do not have him take that portion on.

[Monica]

Cut him off from your cards. Like, closing the account. It sounds like you knew about this and agreed.

If that is the case you are at fault as well.

You both need to pay off the cards as soon as possible.

[Vicki]

Cut up the cards!! He needs to keep paying much more than minimum in order to get ahead of the interest.

If they are in your name, to the company you are responsible hence your credit score dropping.

But IMO, HE should pay them off on your behalf if he created this debt.

Try to transfer to a 0 interest card and have him keep paying the debt.

[Teresa]

Freeze your credit at the 3 credit bureau. Then change the password on all the CC accounts and have your son pay you directly.

Then put a lock on the CC until you need something.

My son has my ATM card for emergencies if needed.

He has to call me to unlock the card and I transfer funds to that account.

Emergencies do happen, it has been twice over the last 5 years.

Anyways pay the minimum on all cards except one.

That one you put as much as you can in it to pay it off regardless if funds come from you or your son.

Then move to the next one.

Keep the accounts to help build time on your credit score but no more using cards.

[Mari]

I think you both should pay it off. He needs to continue to contribute at least the minimum and then you can both begin to chip away at it.

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