How can seniors pay off debts successfully? - By: JasonHolmes

Problem

My father is 85 years old and my mother is 79 years old. My father suffered a stroke last year and is partially paralyzed since then. My mother has high blood pressure and sugar. They are somehow managing the medical expenses through Medicare. My father has a credit card loan of $25,000 at 25% interest. Since my father has not saved much money during his working life, so it is quite hard for him to make the minimum monthly payments to his creditor. My father has requested his creditor to cut back the interest rate on the loan time and again. But the creditor has refused to do so. His home equity is already exhausted. So, he can’t take advantage of reverse mortgage to pay off the debt. Currently, my father is paying $550 to his creditor per month. My question is what can he do in this scenario? Should he file bankruptcy?

Solution

Good to hear that you are concerned about your parent’s financial condition. A reverse mortgage would have helped your father to pay off his debts. It is a great tool for the seniors to repay their outstanding balances by using their home equity. However, since their home equity is already exhausted, so he can’t take advantage of reverse mortgage to repay his credit card debt. But this doesn’t mean that your father can’t repay the debt at all. He can still pay back his creditor through some debt relief options.

You can ask your mother to call your father’s creditor and request them to reduce the interest rate on the loan. If your father has been making the monthly payments on time and your mother can explain their financial situation correctly, then the creditor may comply. Ask your mother to request the creditor to reduce the interest rate by 10% to 12%. If the interest rate gets lowered by 10% to 12%, then your father’s monthly payment will get reduced.

If your mother fails to convince the creditor to reduce the interest rate, then I think it will be better to get professional help. You may ask your father or mother to contact a reputed credit counseling agency. Once he enrolls in a credit counseling program, the counselors of the agency will negotiate with his creditor to lower the interest rate or the total debt amount. Apart form this, your father may also consolidate debt and pay off the loan.

Finally, if your father is still unable to repay the credit card loan, then he may contact an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. The lawyer will be able to tell your father about the pros and cons of repaying debt through bankruptcy. If the lawyer is good, then he can help your father to get out of this problem.

About the Author

He is a regular writer with Debt Consolidation Care and is also a contributory writer with other financial sites. His expertise is woven around various aspects of the debt industry and with his e-books he tries to impart to people the different situations and simple solutions to get out of difficult situations. Some of his works include e-books like ‘Credit Score The Quintessential Therapy for a Happy Pocket’, Take Creditors and Collection Agencies to Small Claims Court’ .

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/JasonHolmes/54163

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