Can I 'buy' credit card debt?

minikin

Hi,

My fiancee is on maternity leave and has just found out that she has been made redundant. She has about 2-3k on a credit card, on which she has been making minimum repayments.

My query, I have some cash burning a hole in the local credit union, can I buy this credit card debt off the bank at a discount? i.e give them 2k to clear it.
Would doing something like this affect her credit rating?

Kind of like a mini-nama I suppose

Random

sorry i might be missing the obvious here - but why can't you just pay off her bill?

Pythia

No, you can't. Just pay the 2k into the account and let her pay the rest.

The Big Red Button

Apart from anything else, if she's making the minimum repayments, why would the bank want to get rid of the customer? Particularly at a discount?

minikin

why can't you just pay off her bill?

I can, I'm just asking if there's a smart alternative way of leveraging the situation in my favour.

Apart from anything else, if she's making the minimum repayments, why would the bank want to get rid of the customer? Particularly at a discount?

as I said she's on maternity leave and has just been made redundant, so while she was able to make the repayments up to now... she soon will not be in such a position... would the bank not be happy to get the debt (or at least a high percentage of it) cleared immediately rather than have to chase payments from someone who can no longer afford to repay them.

In business if someone owes us on an overdue account we are more than happy to give them a discount if they agree to settle a substantial amount of the debt.... bird in the hand and all that. I'm just asking if anyone has done same with a financial institution.

And all this talk about the banks needing to be recapitalised

MagicMarker

Short answer. No.

Pythia

Basically what you are looking for is for her to get a 'W' on her ICB, meaning part of the debt is written off. Pretty much means no credit facilities for 5 years.

minikin

Basically what you are looking for is for her to get a 'W' on her ICB

That's actually precisely the opposite of what I am looking for, but thanks to all for the input, has clarified the situation.

hmmm.... might just leave the bank and herself to it.

chris85

minikin wrote: »

That's actually precisely the opposite of what I am looking for, but thanks to all for the input, has clarified the situation.

hmmm.... might just leave the bank and herself to it.

you cannot buy the debt. You can pay her debt off or she can try negotiate a reduce settlement with the bank which you can then pay. This would be marked on ICB as settled for a lesser figure so obviously some adverse affect on credit.

Otherwise she needs to meet her payments.

Chipboard

Your dead right. You didn't sign a guarantee of her debt and your not even married to her yet. In law you are offering out of the goodness of your heart (or whatever) to pay off a debt of another, a debt which you have no legal obligation to pay. You would be an absolute idiot to do this without asking for a gesture in return.

By the way, its not considered acceptable to talk of a Nama for little people, Nama is for people with helicopters and yachts and is paid for by little people. Moral hazard and all that...tut tut.

jor el

minikin wrote: »

My query, I have some cash burning a hole in the local credit union, can I buy this credit card debt off the bank at a discount? i.e give them 2k to clear it.

You can't really get involved directly, but if your fiancée were to arrange to close the account at a discount, you could give her to money to do that. She should ring them up and say about loosing her job etc, and ask if they would take a reduced amount to close the account. It may or may not work, but she's got nothing to lose by asking.

tenchi-fan

minikin wrote: »

Kind of like a mini-nama I suppose

That's a brilliant idea! Except, how about you take over a tranche of 5 such loans from the bank. You pay €10,000 and receive €15,000 of debt. It will be up to you whether you ask your girlfriend to repay you the full €3000.

Fact is, with your girlfriend keeping up the minimum payments and paying sky high interest she is exactly the sort of person your bank likes having on the books!!

minikin

update on this... she applied to the bank (bank of ireland) for a loan (€2,500)... surprise surprise was refused the loan... shower of (insert the really bad c word)'s.

She's been with them for twenty years, has had a credit card for years, has had several loans over the years, has a mortgage etc... has never missed payments etc.

what a load of bum, good thing we recapitalised the banks otherwise the flow of credit would dry up... oh wait...

sarahlulu

if she is redundant now and unable to repay the credit card debt, what was she going to do about repaying the loan if it had been approved?

MagicMarker

WTF? You started the thread essentially saying you wanted to pay her debt, so why is she applying for a loan?

boshea19

minikin your unreal... first you are looking to "buy" debt in the hope you can rip off the bank by not paying back all the debt your missus racked up on a credit card.... now she is unemployed and your moaning they wont give her a loan? WTF!!!

She has no income, of course they wont give her a loan

Tax payers pumped money into the banks to try to stabilise them and get them back in business, not so people like you can pick and choose how much of your debt that you run up is cleared, and then question why the banks are not handing out loans to people with no official income to support the repayments!

Look beyond your own selfish interests and understand banks are not here to personally serve you!

minikin

minikin your unreal... first you are looking to "buy" debt in the hope you can rip off the bank by not paying back all the debt your missus racked up on a credit card.... now she is unemployed and your moaning they wont give her a loan? WTF!!!

She has no income, of course they wont give her a loan

Tax payers pumped money into the banks to try to stabilise them and get them back in business, not so people like you can pick and choose how much of your debt that you run up is cleared, and then question why the banks are not handing out loans to people with no official income to support the repayments!

Look beyond your own selfish interests and understand banks are not here to personally serve you!

oh dear... where do I start... first off boshea19 take a breath...

1. Where have I said I was hoping to "rip off" the bank???

2. She's not my missus yet... so I have no legal connection to the debt.

3. She's not unemployed, she's still on maternity leave. (Fact that she was illegally made redundant while on maternity is a whole other story)

4. Even if she was unemployed she still would have income: the dole.

5. I AM one of those taxpayers you refer, whose taxes are being pumped into the banks to stabilise them. (particular pig in a poke we were sold was that this was essential to get credit flowing in the economy again)

6. I don't know what you mean by 'people like me'... I have absolutely NO debt, I have NEVER had to take out a loan because I have always lived within my means... I clear my card every month, don't have a mortgage and have always saved for things before I buy them. Save your lectures for someone who deserves them.

7. Again with the 'no official income'... google 'job seekers allowance', 'redundancy payment' and 'rent from boyfriend'

8. What selfish interests are you going on about? I was asking about the possibility of relieving someone's debt burden.

9. This might come as a surprise to you but banks ARE there to personally serve us, they're a service industry...

The only thing that was accurate in your post was the spelling of 'minikin' oh and you're confusing the possessive with a contraction in your first sentence.

WTF? You started the thread essentially saying you wanted to pay her debt, so why is she applying for a loan?

That's a reasonable question.
I came on here simply asking if it was advisable/possible/or if anyone had tried to directly take over a debt and negotiate a discount without affecting credit rating. I got the response that it wasn't... so she ploughed ahead... just like mabs advise people in her situation to do... consolidate your debt at a lower rate by converting your c.c. debt into a personal bank loan.

if she is redundant now and unable to repay the credit card debt, what was she going to do about repaying the loan if it had been approved?

Again, another reasonable question.
She's not unable to pay the credit card debt, this was an attempt to reduce outgoings... she's maintaining minimum payments on the c.c. debt / mortgage / car loan / utility thanks to maternity benefit & increased support from me etc... her income at the moment has been maintained at pre-maternity leave levels. We are surviving at the moment.

We are planning ahead to avoid getting into unmanageable debt - when her income drops by about €280 a month from maternity benefit to job seekers allowance.

I was just trying to do the right thing in a financially intelligent manner but it appears that we little people can't catch a break ...I cleared the balance on Monday.

jor el

minikin wrote: »

3. She's not unemployed, she's still on maternity leave. (Fact that she was illegally made redundant while on maternity is a whole other story)

You can't be made redundant because you're legally absent from work, but that doesn't mean you're immune to any redundancy actions that the company applies. She can be made redundant, just not because she's on maternity leave.

minikin wrote: »

4. Even if she was unemployed she still would have income: the dole.

No bank would ever give a loan where the repayments are based on welfare payments.

minikin wrote: »

7. Again with the 'no official income'... google 'job seekers allowance', 'redundancy payment' and 'rent from boyfriend'

If she has a redundancy payment, then she should use that to clear the card ASAP, and that will be the end of it. She could also ask the bank if they'd be willing to accept a reduced final settlement value to clear and close the account. If the debt is 2.5k, then offering 2k might just be accepted. Since she's been making the minimum payments, and shows no sign of having payment problems, they're unlikely to accept the offer. No harm trying though.

minikin wrote: »

I cleared the balance on Monday.

Ah, missed that bit, so too late for her to negotiate a reduced settlement. For anyone else in that situation, they could try it. A third party won't be able to buy the debt, but the debt owner may be able to get a reduction on the amount owed if it can be cleared in one go. Either way, clearing that now has alleviated the burden of the interest that would have kept accumulating on that balance. Which is good for you both.

minikin

You can't be made redundant because you're legally absent from work, but that doesn't mean you're immune to any redundancy actions that the company applies. She can be made redundant, just not because she's on maternity leave.

Cheers Jor el,

Company went into liquidation* a few weeks after she started maternity leave. It's a very messy and seemingly unfair situation when you're honest & stick to the rules - we've declared ourselves as co-habiting because I don't believe in cheating the state...

We're stuck because they can not make her officially redundant until she is due to return to work in october, so can only apply for jobseekers when that date comes, then there'll be a gap of a few months before the dole payments start and the redundancy payment application can't start until she's made officially redundant... so I'm trying to preempt the situation by reducing the outgoings. Expensive old business this kid-making

*wink wink nudge nudge, move next door and continue trading.

shoegirl

minikin wrote: »

I can, I'm just asking if there's a smart alternative way of leveraging the situation in my favour.

No, you can't.

Cheeky_gal

Am I right in saying you're girl friend has 2.5k oweing on her credit card and you are going to suggest to the Bank that "if I give you the 2k now, do you want to scrap the .5k? Deal?" - Cuz that's ludacris Lol

minikin

Am I right in saying you're girl friend has 2.5k oweing on her credit card and you are going to suggest to the Bank that "if I give you the 2k now, do you want to scrap the .5k? Deal?"

Hi cheeky_gal thanks for your input, but no you wouldn't be right in saying that... have a read back if you get a moment.

Cuz that's ludacris Lol

... um, do you write for the herald???

Cheeky_gal

minikin wrote: »

.
... um, do you write for the herald???

No, 50 cent :cool:

minikin

You should charge more, most entertaining!
Ah fiddy... what a creditable addition to the language.

Jesus Wept

Of course you can, it will cost you 2-3k.

Toots

Ok guys, let's stay on topic here. If people want to debate modern linguistics, please take it to PM.

minikin

No worries toots, thanks to all for the advice and opinions.
Over and out.

-Corkie-

Its no wonder the country got into so much debt and sh1t with the likes of this going on...:rolleyes:

Toots

What a wonderful contribution to make to the thread.

-Corkie- this thread hasn't had a post in almost a fortnight, there was no need to drag it up just so you could get a dig in. Yellow card for stirring.