What would you do if your mother has two credit cards in your name and didnt pay the bills?

Question

My mother has two credit cards in my name, has had the phone bill in my name, and has even stole money from me. I dont know what to do because she had me so far into debt that its not even funny! She is not paying the bills or helping me out in any way and I just want to get peoples opinions on this...I am 18 and just graduated so its pretty bad that my mother has to act like this.

Answer 1

Wow. I was in a similar situation. When I graduated from college and got married, I changed my address to my husband's. The whole time I was in college, I let my mail keep going to my parent;s house.

Well, shortly after getting married, I started receiving bills from 4 credit cards companies - I owed about $7000 and I had only ever had 1 credit card - I opened it myself and made small purchases and paid it off every month - I spent 4 years in school trying to build my credit so I could buy a new car when I graduated. I never knew my parents had cards in my name.

Number 1: Don't ever feel sorry for your mom. She stole from you and she stole from your future. Credit scores are very hard to build up - this could affect you for many years.

Number 2: Call and cancel every card and every bill. If this means she has no phone, then she will have to deal with it.

Number 3: Don't discuss your finances with your mom. I am now in a great financial situation, and whenever my parents see my husband and me doing well (eg vacation, new vehicle) they ask for loans from us. If your mom asks you for money, say no and don't feel guilty about it. She is an adult. You have to be an adult now and take care of yourself.

I may sound harsh, but I've been through it and its been 7 1/2 years - about once a year, my dad says he'll pay me back. I've never recovered one dime. My mom just got a $500 bonus at work - they called to tell me all about their new laptop they bought with it!

And to make it worse, while I was in college, my parents went to my husband (then fiance) twice with sob stories and he loaned them 2500 cash each time.

Best of luck to you and be strong for yourself and get firm with the creditors if you have to - they aren't usually friendly when you call to close accounts.

Answer 2

Credit card debt is an inevitable reality for most of us. Unless born with a silver spoon in the mouth, we find it pretty much difficult to keep up with the credit card repayment schedule, and the result is a good hefty credit card debt. Things go worse if the credit card debt is attracting high interest rates and causing further burden. Paying the monthly minimum is one of the options which we all find shelter in and this makes things even more disastrous. Is there a way out? Definitely yes. If you haven't already heard of credit card balance transfers, read on.

Credit card balance transfer is a process by which we can transfer our outstanding balances on a credit card (which are generally at high interest rates) to a low interest rate credit card.

Balance transfer has some good advantages let us look at a few of them.

Balance transfer is one of the best methods to get rid of that credit card debt. When you transfer balances all your outstanding balances are wiped out and transferred to new credit card. Read more from: http://www.credit-card-gallery.com/article/374,Credit_card_balance_transfer_A_really_good_option_for_those_with_huge_credit_card_debt

Answer 3

I am sorry to hear this. You shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing, especially from your own mother!

That said, I would confiscate all the cards in your name. If she knows the card numbers then contact your credit card companies and have them close your current open account numbers and issue you new card numbers. What you might also consider is consolidating your credit card debt onto the lowest rate card or consider opening a new card account with a zero interest promo rate if you can get one - then see if you can get your credit card companies to move your balances to your new no interest card so you have more time to pay it off w/o incurring more interest (just be careful because if you don't have 100% paid off when the promo period expires they will assess the interest from day one as if the promo rate never existed and you will be liable for all the interest).

Unfortunately, your mother's actions affect YOUR credit because the cards are in your name - doesn't matter who charged it (unless you want to report the charges as fraudulent on your own mother) and YOU are the only person the credit card companies will hold responsible. Try your best to lower your interest rates and pay off the debt as soon as you can. In the meantime, cut your mother off of your credit accounts - be it credit cards, utilities, whatever.

Try to get your mother to pay you back if you can, but don't leave your credit reputation in her hands any longer.

Good luck.

Answer 4

First thing you should do is tell your mother that its ILLEGAL to do this. You were underage and not obligated to even start debt let alone BE in debt. By law, anyone under 18 cannot enter into any contractual agreement. Technically the debt is on her anyway because she is your mother.
She needs to pay off all the credit cards. I would call the credit card company and explain the situation to them, canceling the cards so no furhter purchases can be made on them.
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Answer 5

She is still your Mama so you should try to be nice to her and avoid putting her in jail. Maybe you should try this:
1) Credits cards
Take them away and call the companies to have her name removed as an additional user. Other than that I would suggest trying to pay them off and letting her know your gonna need some money from her to try ot clear the debt. It may take a long time but at least your not putting her in jail. ***Now if its getting ugly than do what you gotta do and charge her with fraud. (last resort)
2) the phone
Call the phone company and close the phone account (get a cellphone for yourself) you are authorized to do that. Just try to pay the bill to avoid more damage to your credit and your future.

If she is stealing money from you, you need to confront her because you are an adult. If its hard cash maybe you need to put it in the bank (get an account if you don't have one), if its through debit cards, etc then you need to protect you card/pin.

Just remember it may seem like a great idea to just put her in jail but you may have to deal with some of the debt and guilt/pressure of not having your mother around. (p.s. it all depends on your relationship)

Answer 6

She is ruining your credit rating and this will affect you for the next 7 to 10 years. Call and cancel the credit cards immediately, if they insist, bring charges against your mother, so you will not be responsible for this debt!

My sister in law did the same thing to her children and now that they are married or wanting to go to school they can't get loans or financing because of what she did.

I know you love her and she is your mom but she is taking advantage of you! She has a problem that she needs to deal with. 10 years is a long time to pay for your mothers financial irresponsibility!

Answer 7

my mom does the same, put the tv under my name, credit cards, and whatever she can do with my name. it's sad but what can you do, it's your mom. i suggest either check your mom in a mental hospital or you check into a school and earn a degree and move very far away from her.

if the credit cards and any bills were opened before you turned 18, you can tell them you can't pay because you are a minor, and i think you can make it go away. OR they can wait till you turn 18 and sue you.

your other option is:

if you report her, they can arrest your mom and put her in jail. i think it's a minimum of 3 to 5 years for fraud. if you are sick of her, do it man!! be the example we need!!

Answer 8

Call the bank, tell them you had never authorised the issuance of the credit cards (U better make sure u didn't). Demand them to cancel the card. Same goes for the phone bills.

Lodge (or threaten to lodge) police reports if u are really fed up with her.

To prevent further events, never sign any document until u know the true nature of it.

Answer 9

I would call the credit card company and let them know they are her cards and she used your name-then I would have them list the cards as stolen and close the accounts. She cannot legally hve a card in your name. That's all you have to do. The credit card company should take it from there. They will have her detained the next time she tries to use one of the cards. That is identity theft my dear-that is serious and she needs to be turned in-mother or not.

Answer 10

Call the police and find out what your options are. Also work on getting your social security # changed as soon as possible. Also depending on what the police say, you may want to talk to a financial advisor who helps victims of identity theft get out of debt. They will let you know if filing for bankruptcy would be a good choice for you. I am very sorry to hear that she did that to you, how terrible for a parent to be a thief to their own child.