I'm trying to help a friend who's wife is digging him a real hole. He
live in Alabama, and I know that at minimum his house and one vehicle
have joint signatures on them. My friend works exceptionally hard
(probably around 60 - 70 hours per week) and makes good money, but his
wife's spending cannot be contained, and they are spiralling into
debt. Counseling and allowances have been tried, but she still opens
credit cards behind his back, and runs up gigantic bills. He can't
deny them, I don't believe, because her being one of the signatures on
the home makes it liable to debt collection. She does not work (stays
home with two children), but again, attempts at creating an allowance
have failed because she can still open credit cards.

The questions I am left with are:
a) Is there a way to stop her from being able to sign for new credit
cards?

and

b) Can any of the old debts be denied without endangering the joint
property, such as his house? I can't imagine someone with absolutely
no income what-so-ever was given a card based on her credit, and his
signature is not on the app, so it seems like it might be a violation
on the Fair Credit Act?

Thanks for any advice, and please CC any replies to
KahnRa@REMOVESPAMFILTERyahoo.com. I don't get enough free time to
check the boards, and I would hate to miss any help.

kahnra2000@yahoo.com (That Steve Guy) wrote in
news:f98divo5t29bgh8sqk83ovtfjeavb91u8s@4ax.com:
I'm trying to help a friend who's wife is digging him a real hole. He live in Alabama, and I know that at minimum his house and one vehicle have joint signatures on them. My friend works exceptionally hard (probably around 60 - 70 hours per week) and makes good money, but his wife's spending cannot be contained, and they are spiralling into debt. Counseling and allowances have been tried, but she still opens credit cards behind his back, and runs up gigantic bills. He can't deny them, I don't believe, because her being one of the signatures on the home makes it liable to debt collection. She does not work (stays home with two children), but again, attempts at creating an allowance have failed because she can still open credit cards. The questions I am left with are: a) Is there a way to stop her from being able to sign for new credit cards? and b) Can any of the old debts be denied without endangering the joint property, such as his house? I can't imagine someone with absolutely no income what-so-ever was given a card based on her credit, and his signature is not on the app, so it seems like it might be a violation on the Fair Credit Act?

If she refuses to cooperate (which might also include some sort of
counceling for compulsive spending), the only solution might be bankruptcy
and divorce. I doubt there's any legal way to prevent an adult from
spending money or obtaining credit.

Your friend (it's *always* a friend :-) will probably not have much luck
avoiding debt from credit that was granted and spent, on the grounds that
the creditor shouldn't have granted the credit in the first place.

>The questions I am left with are:a) Is there a way to stop her from being able to sign for new creditcards?andb) Can any of the old debts be denied without endangering the jointproperty, such as his house? I can't imagine someone with absolutelyno income what-so-ever was given a card based on her credit, and hissignature is not on the app, so it seems like it might be a violationon the Fair Credit Act?

Two drastic possibilities would be bankruptcy and/or divorce. Your friend
could be free of his wife's old debts and would not not liable for her future
ones. Even if there is some easy way to make it impossible for his wife to
apply for more credit cards (and I personally can't think of any easy way to do
this), he still should seriously consider these possibilities (assuming her
spending truly is uncontrollable and that counseling truly cannot help her.)

A less drastic possibility might be to encourage her to get a job of her own.
She could then use her earnings to pay for her personal spending (although she
may not have any marketable skills, there may be no market in your area for the
skills she does have, child care costs might eat up most of her earnings, etc.)

Credit card applications are approved more on the basis of household income
than on personal income, so the fact that she has no income of her own is of
minor importance.


*****
Tim Horrigan <horrigan@aol.com>
*****

>If she refuses to cooperate (which might also include some sort ofcounceling for compulsive spending), the only solution might be bankruptcyand divorce.

I thought of another possibility. If the house is a key issue, your friend
MIGHT be able to get his wife's name off the house.

That would require actually buying out her share of the property--- with real
money--- at a fair market value. She could use the proceeds to pay off the
existing debts--- but after all that she might run up new debts, and then the
house could still be in danger of being taken away from your friend.


*****
Tim Horrigan <horrigan@aol.com>
*****