what's to stop one from living off of credit cards?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

can a person theoretically live the rest of their life by purchasing goods on credit card and only paying off a minimum every month until they die?
after dying, they will never have to worry about that debt

i mean, sure their credit score will suck, they'll never be approved for big loans but they can always lease and rent a house.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

 

[nakedfrog]

/facepalm

 

[Deeko]

Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

 

[TruePaige]

I don't think one could get that much credit, feasibly they'd need at least 25k a year in credit limit increases.

 

[Ladies Man]

I see you've put a lot of thought into this.

 

[bignateyk]

wow

 

[Genx87]

Compounding interest, that thing Einstein called a wonder of the world will get you very quickly at 24% a year.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Ladies Man
I see you've put a lot of thought into this.

Must be a slow day at work...

 

[darkxshade]

Theoretically it may work if you're terminally ill and know how much time you got left. Otherwise you will max out real quick and will incur over the limit fees monthly because after a certain balance, the interest accrued each month is greater than the minimum payment. And with interest rates as high as 25%(which they'll prob raise to if you keep paying the min), you would have paid back the actual "borrowed" amount from minimum payments after a few years and every month after that, you're just paying them a monthly allowance for nothing.

 

[Ramma2]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

Their children? Or other family members that would be haunted by this terrible chice for years?

The man ALWAYS gets paid. Someone will pay.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

That's entirely different from the question originally posed..

 

[Genx87]

Children shouldnt see any of his debt. But his estate will get raped. If he has a wife, then she is screwed.

 

[ggnl]

Originally posted by: Ramma2

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

Their children? Or other family members that would be haunted by this terrible chice for years?

The man ALWAYS gets paid. Someone will pay.

I think worst case scenario your family would just get nothing. The card companies could loot your estate, but you can't inherit debt.

With that said, it's still an incredibly dumb idea.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

If the old guy has any assets that he's leaving behind when he dies, I'm pretty sure his debts are settled before anyone inherits anything.

And you don't usually know when you're going to die.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

My second point comes in then. Have you ever had a balance over $1000? The minimum payment starts going up real quick.

Their children? Or other family members that would be haunted by this terrible chice for years?

The man ALWAYS gets paid. Someone will pay.

If no one else's name was on the cards, the family isn't legally obligated to pay anything. The credit card companies can try, but they aren't liable for his debt.

Now, they WOULD be entitled to his estate, so it would lessen or eliminate any inheritance, but debt doesn't just get passed on to someone's children.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Children shouldnt see any of his debt. But his estate will get raped. If he has a wife, then she is screwed.

what estate? he's got nothing since everything was purchased on credit.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

My second point comes in then. Have you ever had a balance over $1000? The minimum payment starts going up real quick.

Their children? Or other family members that would be haunted by this terrible chice for years?

The man ALWAYS gets paid. Someone will pay.

If no one else's name was on the cards, the family isn't legally obligated to pay anything. The credit card companies can try, but they aren't liable for his debt.

Now, they WOULD be entitled to his estate, so it would lessen or eliminate any inheritance, but debt doesn't just get passed on to someone's children.

no, never carried a balance period.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: Deeko
Well there are two fairly obvious problems....1) you'll run out of credit, they have limits on cards for a reason 2) the minimum will ramp up drastically as the balances increase.

You didn't really think this was feasible, did you?

well, i'm only 25 and i have a handful of credit cards with a limit totalling over $100k.

the real question is, for someone who is older and closer to death. what's to stop him from going on a mad shopping spree, using up a big portion of his credit right before he dies?

Because the wife/estate will be screwed. The wife might not be, but the estate would be.

 

[Genx87]

Are you really going to argue this? I'd imagine at some point he purchased something that wasnt immediately consumed.

 

[brandonb]

I work for a collection agency, and let me tell you one thing...

It happens!

I don't really want to give away secrets, but I guess it doesn't hurt because the sooner they fix the loopholes, the better off we will be.

If you have a credit limit of $30,000. There is nothing stopping you from maxxing it out and not paying it. What happens is the credit card company will sell the debt to a collection agency, and the collection agency will offer you a settlement, sometimes as low as 50%. So, now the $30,000 bill is now $15,000. The person who is doing this is smart, they arent' spending the money, they save it. So when the settlement comes, they use the money from the credit card to pay the settlement. Now they just profitted $15,000. Do this with 10 credit cards and well you profit $150,000. They have bad credit, and they can't get more cards. But after 3 years, most credit card companies will give the person credit cards again. And they do it all over again. Thats equal to a $50,000 a year job.

Yes, people do it, more than you think.

The companies don't care because they write it off on their taxes as a loss and get refunded by the government. Why do you think there is so many "no credit, bad credit, no problem" commercials on TV. The credit card companies don't really lose much. In fact, it costs more money in lawyer fees and court costs to pursue people who are doing this. So they let it slide and don't even prosecute.

They need to stop giving out credit cards to those with bad credits, and out government should not refund money back to the companies for a loss when doing so.

 

[kranky]

In the example of an older person who goes on a spree before dying, the only thing that can be done to recover the debt is to go after the estate. If there is no estate, then indeed, the person would have beaten the system. The bank cannot go after relatives for the money, assuming that the person did not have joint accounts.

 

[LS21]

max out your credit line, declare bankrupty, buy a new SSN and forge fake new identity, profit

 

[darkxshade]

Two things are certain in the afterlife, debt and taxes.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Start charging blow and hookers and you might be able to shorten your life just enough to make it work.