wife's daughter credit card debt

[steve2112]

My wife's daughter got several credit cards about 2 years ago and ran up about 200,000 baht in debt and didn't pay back. She hasn't used them for about 1 year so i assume the interest has kept adding up. she is not at the address she used to get the cards and threw the cards away, so has no idea what how much she owes or how to pay back.

 

 

Anyone what usually happen in this situation? I assume the credit card companies will try to find her right? She lives with us now and works at Makro. I assume the credit card companies would eventually get the courts to have Makro take some money from her pay every month, but given what she owns, that could be almost 100% of her pay.

 

Also, my wife is worried if the daughter doesn't pay, the credit card companies could come after us since we are the only ones with money. I don't don't know how they could make her mother responsible for the debt but this Thailand, anything is possible.

 

My wife wants to pay the whole thing for her but i said if we do that, she'll get more cards and do it again.

 

Anyone else had to deal with similar situation?

 

thanks

[BritManToo]

28 minutes ago, steve2112 said:

Anyone else had to deal with similar situation?

Best to ignore the whole thing, after 5 years the debt gets written off.

Don't get involved it's not your business and it will cost you money. I'm assuming your wife is asking you for money to pay it off.

Edited November 16, 2018 by BritManToo

[steve2112]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Best to ignore the whole thing, after 5 years the debt gets written off.

 

 

is that really true about 5 years. do you have a source for that?

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by steve2112

[ezzra]

My advice is to wait and see and let them come to you first, usually you can negotiat the damage to a very resnable amout citing the girl's young age and irrisponsible attidute, also, those loans are most likely insured the by the lenders already and thus will fall under the NPL category...

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, steve2112 said:

 

is that really true about 5 years. do you have a source for that?

 

Yes, my former partner owed 500k, couldn't own land, vehicles, bank account, she had a letter sent to her registered address once a year asking for the money, no other action was taken. I saw the letters and read them myself.

The year after the time was up she applied for and got a 1.5Mbht home loan ....... 

Edited November 16, 2018 by BritManToo

[kannot]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Yes, my former partner owed 500k, couldn't own land, vehicles, bank account, she had a letter sent to her registered address once a year asking for the money, no other action was taken. I saw the letters and read them myself.

The year after the time was up she applied for and got a 1.5Mbht home loan ....... 

Cripes thats appalling............no wonder they borrow  to the hilt

[steve2112]

My wife is saying that used to be true about forgetting the loan, but now they come after you forever

 

maybe i need to talk to a lawyer

 

[BritManToo]

18 minutes ago, steve2112 said:

My wife is saying that used to be true about forgetting the loan, but now they come after you forever

maybe i need to talk to a lawyer

1

Hmmmmmm ......

What evidence do you have this debt really exists?

Edited November 16, 2018 by BritManToo

[colinneil]

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Hmmmmmm ......

What evidence do you have this debt really exists?

Usually i dont agree with Britman, but on this occasion i do.

What proof have you the debt actually exists?

Never take the daughters word for it, because many times it is just a way of screwing money out of the farang.

My ex-wife could have won an Oscar for her imaginary debt stories.

[Katia]

Gonna side with everyone else.  If the credit card companies were worried about getting their money back, she wouldn't wonder how much she owes because they'd be coming after her for every cent.  Wait for the bill, and only then worry...

[transam]

Mrs.Trans sister (62) spent on cards and didn't pay back, she couldn't give a shit, but she ended up being chased by the law and had to make payments..

 

From what I have seen/heard here is that if a farang is in the equation the naughty party thinks the ATM will sort it..????

[Vacuum]

Using a credit card (borrow money) and then not pay back, is in my book same as stealing.

[BritManToo]

45 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Using a credit card (borrow money) and then not pay back, is in my book same as stealing.

Your book is wrong.

[Vacuum]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Your book is wrong.

Perhaps, but I'm an honest guy. If I borrow something, I'll give it back. Mind you, I don't have credit cards and never had any.

Cash is king.

[suzannegoh]

3 hours ago, steve2112 said:

My wife is saying that used to be true about forgetting the loan, but now they come after you forever

 

maybe i need to talk to a lawyer

 

Collection agencies may continue to send intimidating sounding letters forever but that doesn't negate the statue of limitations.  Run it by a lawyer, most likely he will tell you that those letters are safe to ignore.

[petermik]

8 hours ago, Vacuum said:

 

Cash is king.

Not always......

[Misty]

I've seen where the financial institution pursued a case through the court to try to garnish wages. Not sure what the final outcome was, but I think they could only seek to garnish wages above THB20k per month and the debtor didn't make that much.

 

If she's a single adult, could someone else be made responsible legally? 

[suzannegoh]

2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

Using a credit card (borrow money) and then not pay back, is in my book same as stealing.

The credit card companies aren't innocent victims though.  They want customers who will only make the minimum monthly payment on their card because they make big money on the interest charges, and they consider customers who pay their bill on-time each month to be "deadbeats".  So they give out credit to people who aren't very financially stable and then get burned in a certain number of those cases. 

[SOTIRIOS]

...if she is using your place as her official residence now...

 

...creditors can come and seize anything on the premises...

 

...(that's how it used to be)...

 

...nonetheless...you are supporting and condoning her illegal behavior by harboring her...

 

...run up 200,000 and throw the cards away....come on....

 

 

[Arsdorf]

The current Thailand civil & commercial code statute of limitation for credit card debt collection is 3 years from the date of default.  The limitation period is a complete defense to a collection lawsuit filed beyond the three-year period.  However, any post-default payment by the debtor starts a new three-year limitation running. 

 

You might want to check whether the credit card issuer has filed a lawsuit within the three-year period.

[Chassa]

1 hour ago, Vacuum said:

Perhaps, but I'm an honest guy. If I borrow something, I'll give it back. Mind you, I don't have credit cards and never had any.

Cash is king.

Don't go to the Australian Embassy, they will not accept cash, Thai or Aussie, only cards there!

[MaksimMislavsky]

5 hours ago, steve2112 said:

My wife wants to pay the whole thing for her but i said if we do that, she'll get more cards and do it again.

Spot on!

[MaksimMislavsky]

4 hours ago, steve2112 said:

maybe i need to talk to a lawyer

 

this will more likely than not result in you having to pay the debt, the accrued interest, and the lawyer's fee.

[Faikham]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

My advice is to wait and see and let them come to you first, usually you can negotiat the damage to a very resnable amout citing the girl's young age and irrisponsible attidute, also, those loans are most likely insured the by the lenders already and thus will fall under the NPL category...

My advice is to not listen to anyone who thinks credit card companies can insure against nonpayment and that that constitutes an NPL.

 

The credit is already "non-performing" and the bank may sell the debt to a collector.

[fruitman]

She took that card herself, spent it herself so let her deal with it...if they take her salary then so be it.

 

After 6 months or so you can help her a bit but i sure would let her sweat for it.

[kingstonkid]

Steve

 

The legal way to do this is

a. get a printout of her credit report from the government.  Hs has to do this but I am sure mom will be able to force her.

2. Look at the debts she has.

Prioritize them by the highest interest rate to the lowest.

3. Sit down with the wife and daughter and lay out the rules.

4. contact all creditors and find out the minimum she can pay each month

5. Then pay more on the highest interest to get rid of it then once that is paid to take the money to add it to the next debt and so on until it's all paid.

 

This will remove the debt and make her learn responsibility as well as hopefully make mom happy.

[Berkshire]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hmmmmmm ......

What evidence do you have this debt really exists?

Good point.  Pretty much all Thai credit cards have a limit and the card owner cannot spend beyond that until the balance has been repaid.  On my cards, it's only 60k on one card, 80k on another...and I have darn good credit.  It's hard to believe that the daughter had up to 200k limit, even if it's more than one card. 

[cyberfarang]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Best to ignore the whole thing, after 5 years the debt gets written off.

Don't get involved it's not your business and it will cost you money. I'm assuming your wife is asking you for money to pay it off.

Not exactly.

 

If it is suspected that an adult person obtained credit cards for the purposes of using them without having intentions of paying back monies owed on the cards, then that is a criminal offence and could be punishable with a prison term, especially if the person deliberately tries to elude their whereabouts from the credit card companies that is under the law evidence of criminal intent.

 

Unless the OP or his wife acted as guarantors for the person and the person is of adult age, they are not responsible for any debts accrued by the person, but if traced to the OP`s address that address may become blacklisted with the banks and other services.

[HampiK]

10 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Good point.  Pretty much all Thai credit cards have a limit and the card owner cannot spend beyond that until the balance has been repaid.  On my cards, it's only 60k on one card, 80k on another...and I have darn good credit.  It's hard to believe that the daughter had up to 200k limit, even if it's more than one card. 

Sorry, but 80K is not a darn good credit. It is OK, but easily to become a much higher credit if you wish so.

 

For Thais I seen a few times a credit limit more than 1 or 2 monthly salaries. And if she used more than 1 credit card then it would be even more easy to spend 200K.

But yes of course should check if this is a true story

[Just Weird]

If this woman was an adult when she was given the card (presumably in her own name), as it seems, then she is the only one who can be forced to pay the debt unless there was a guarantor, in which case the creditor can get an order for the guarantor to repay.  The card company cannot apply for settlement of the debt from the mother or the farang, the debt is the daughters alone.

 

In the unlikely event that the card company catches up with her (she is no longer at the address the company has for her) and she was living with others the only things that could be taken from that address to go towards debt repayment would be her possessions not items belonging to others.