What Happens If you Don’t Pay your Credit Card Debts? Will you go to jail? Help!
By cyatibarra
@cyatibarra (123)
Philippines
September 8, 2010 3:56am CST
My mom is being harassed by some debit collectors over the phone lately, I just found out that my mom has a debt to one of her major credit cards, but she explained it was a year ago already,and thought it was closed. she wants to pay the said amount but turned out it multiplied already for like 10 times of the purchases she made. that's one thing she cant afford, if they'll only allow my mom to pay the principal amount then my mom would definitely pay them, but the thing there is, the interest is getting bigger and bigger. i wanted to help but i just cant because we cant give what we dont have. she is more than willing to pay the said bill, but just the amount she purchased or at least 2 months of interest is enough. we tried to settle this to one of the agent calling but they wont allow that and threatened us to get our assets like house and cars... i really dont know what to do, i feel so sorry for my mom. what should we do, they wont stop harassing my mom, was wondering if we fail to pay, will they put my mom to jail? pls. need advices. :(
3 people like this
14 responses
@kukueye (1759)
• Malaysia
8 Sep 10
Well in my country , your are given warnings, then your can rearrange longer term payment with compound interests. Another method is do balance transfer to another bank credit card, which will give 1 year free interests rate or free stuffs. If all this does not work , then bank will declare the debtor bankcrupty. Basically will no go to jail as long the debtor don ran away.
1 person likes this
@maean_19 (4655)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
I always encounter this kind of complaint about credit cards. What I want to say is that, never reach the credit limit if you cannot afford to pay it. Be disciplined enough in handling and using your credit card. More so, be knowledgeable about the policy or terms and condition of your credit card application. Read them and do not be ignorant. I have to say so because the same situation is very common.
Anyways, tell your mom not to avoid them. Talk to the agent or any personnel of her credit card company. People never realize that every time they avoid to pay their credit will lead their debt accumulate due to interest. Of course, that's nature of the business. So, if you think you have paid the principal, you are wrong because of the interest.
What to do? Do not wait for the company to sue your mother for sum of money. Good thing, she will not be imprisoned for the debt because the issue is for collection. As early as now, let her to settle it. Make a compromise. Then, close the account.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
8 Sep 10
cyatibarra no honey they will not send your mom to jail. she should look into the companies that can help her deal with the company she owes the money to, they will talk the company she owes the debt to into lowering the interest rates then she can make payments on the principal mainly thus not having that huge interest that enlarged her debt so. this helping company will tell her how to go about making small payments each month til the debts paid off. I will goggle to find the name of these companies then get back to you.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
8 Sep 10
hi me again debt consolidation comp anies. have your mom find one and get the help she needs to cut that debt so she can make easy payments on it as these companies can get the people she owes the debt to to c ut the interes way way down so she can a ctually make payments on it. hope this helps.
@cyatibarra (123)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
Hi there Hatley,thanks for dropping by. i really appreciate all your help and for giving us new ideas and positive information. I really hope this will end soon. We will just take it one step at a time. Now that we have all the information we need, my mom is more confident now to face it, she knew there was negligence on her part too. Thank you all for the encouragement, were very hopeful now. :)
@Firestorm0122 (730)
• United States
8 Sep 10
This is called debt collection harassment, and it is illegal for debt collectors to threaten to take possession of your assets you OWN. They are trying to use fear to instill you into paying.
Tell your mom to do this: Get the name and address of the debt collector. Write a cease and desist letter. Keep a copy for herself. Send the letter to them, certified. If they keep harassing her after the cease and desist letters, report them to the consumer protection agency, and get a lawyer. Also, if you have a recorder, record the conversations of the harassing telephone call.
And no, they cannot put your mom in jail. For them to even say that, it can put THEM land them with a heavy fine, loss of their license, and one big lawsuit.
@Firestorm0122 (730)
• United States
8 Sep 10
Arghh... The last sentence should read: It can put them with a heavy fine... I really wish MyLot had an edit button so we can fix our posts for mistakes.. But try not to worry about your mom.
Debt collectors do what they can to get a rise out of you... And believe it or not, but it's just out of frustration. They can lose their jobs if they can't collect the money (A friend of mine was a debt collector) from owed bills, so they use whatever they can to save their jobs.
But the problem is, most of the way they collect debts are done illegally. Be sure to have your mom write that cease and desist letter. That is your first step to ending debt collector harassment.
@Firestorm0122 (730)
• United States
8 Sep 10
And you're very welcome. :) I don't like debt collectors either.. So I avoid phone calls with them and rip up their letters. I'll pay them when I have a stable job. I guess they try to make everyone afraid, but really they are just fooling themselves.
It's also hard to pay something when you lack the funds. Things happen in life. You might have the same job for years, and never worry about anything happening to it. But then one day, your job is gone because the company went out of business. Debt collectors don't seem to realize this, and pass harsh judgment where it does not belong.
But then I remember they are people too, and will eventually one day face a debt collector too. And then I smile.
I hope it works out for your mother, and I'm sure it will. Tell her to remain positive and use what she can to fight for her right as a consumer. Things will work out in the end. Also I found something of interest:
"Art. 287. Light coercions. Any person who, by means of violence, shall seize anything belonging to his debtor for the purpose of applying the same to the payment of the debt, shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor in its minimum period and a fine equivalent to the value of the thing, but in no case less than 75 pesos. Any other coercions or unjust vexations shall be punished by arresto menor or a fine ranging from 5 pesos to 200 pesos, or both."
From what this says here, any debt collector who tries to use violence against the debtor (Meaning you or your mom since you have the debt) will be arrested and pay a fine.. I think that's what arresto means? Here is the actual link to the website. http://fitzvillafuerte.com/philippine-fair-debt-collection-practices-act.html. Your mother has rights as a consumer and no one can take that from her.
@cyatibarra (123)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
oh im so relieved! thanks for that, will definitely to that. thanks for the advice firestorm. i guess my mom would be happy to hear that we have something to fight, my mom's really emotional. thanks again
@gloryacam (5540)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
Try talking with their agents for ways how to finally settle the amount. I think they have those kinds of settlements, especially long-standing accounts. That's how credit card companies earn so much - interest on the purchases of its clients. And the sad thing is that the interest keeps on piling up as long as there is a balance on your account. About settling, I'm not sure, but I really think there is a means that they could settle at a way how your mom could pay the balance on a more equitable term. Don't worry about jail - it's in our constitution that no person can be imprisoned for non-payment of debts.
@cyatibarra (123)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
hi thanks for sharing, im glad about my mom not put into jail, but how about our house are they going to take it? im just so worried, we also tried to talk to the agent but they want us to go their office and settle it but still with the same amount, and if we fail again to pay the agreement, its another debt. i dont really understand why cant they be considerate. my mom dont want to pay the amount theyre asking because she said its not right to pay what she didnt owe. cant they just waived the interest?
@gloryacam (5540)
• Philippines
9 Sep 10
Is the amount that big? Because if it is not that big, they will have to consider the cost of filing a collection suit against your mom. If they do file a case, and the court rules against her, they could attach her properties, if she won't be able to pay up. I can't believe that bank! Because some banks would offer a compromise with the client because that way, they would be able to collect on the amount due, rather than being hard on the client that all the more the client wouldn't be able to pay. Or, you could ask that you pay the amount in installments over a number of months. That is still better than delaying and delaying because the interest keeps getting bigger and bigger.
@rhodzptc (1317)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
In our country there is no such law about getting to jail if you have failed to pay your credit card bills the only thing is that you would have a record and that would be a trouble when you were renewing your passport and leaving the country. There are instance like this happened in Dubai where there are lot of credit card users who tried to abuse their credit limit and then didn't pay and return to their respective country but they have not been sent to jail. Most of my co-employees are having trouble like your mom some of them have over thousands of debts but whenever the credit card agents is calling in our office they always say that they already resigned but after a few days the credit card agents will call again and even threatened us that if we keep on hiding this person we will be an accessory to the crime so our company filed a cased regarding this call center agents for harassing us and threating us. But your mom case is not the same as this one, I think she's been contacted through her cellphone so she better change her number instead.
@cyatibarra (123)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
i guess they have mentioned about going to our house and send summons that made my mom freaked out. she just cant leave the house to hide, right now were thinking about changing her no. i really hope they will stop by then. thanks rhodz for that.
@maean_19 (4655)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
I always encounter this kind of complaint about credit cards. What I want to say is that, never reach the credit limit if you cannot afford to pay it. Be disciplined enough in handling and using your credit card. More so, be knowledgeable about the policy or terms and condition of your credit card application. Read them and do not be ignorant. I have to say so because the same situation is very common.
Anyways, tell your mom not to avoid them. Talk to the agent or any personnel of her credit card company. People never realize that every time they avoid to pay their credit will lead their debt accumulate due to interest. Of course, that's nature of the business. So, if you think you have paid the principal, you are wrong because of the interest.
What to do? Do not wait for the company to sue your mother for sum of money. Good thing, she will not be imprisoned for the debt because the issue is for collection. As early as now, let her to settle it. Make a compromise. Then, close the account.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
8 Sep 10
I would talk to a debt counselor and also talk to the creditors and explain the problem. They cannot take everything from your mother, only certain things and I am sure the house is not one of them. But she may have to cut up her credit cards and go on a strict cash budget. I would suggest she pay more then what she is doing now. But I think a debt counselor would be her best best.
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
8 Sep 10
Don't worry about that. I have not heard of anyone getting jailed for non payment of credit cards. I have a sister who works in a bank and according to her as long as you don't issue "bouncing" check then credit card companies can't do anything about it. The agents are also trying to harass you because most of the earning that they can collect goes to them and not to the credit card company. I also heard somewhere that once you are unable to pay you credit card bills for a few years it's already considered as "loss" by the bank.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
9 Sep 10
Here in the US it is illegal to continue to harass, but calling and inquiring is not considered harassment. The court considers this collection of a debt.
What happens here is that they will eventually get a judgment and it will be collectible, by means of wage garnishment and any income taxes. If the amount is high enough they can put a lien on property, which basically means if there ever is a sale of said property the title company has to pay-off the credit card company first before any profit of the sale goes to your mother.
As far as for jail, no that is non-existent. There is no criminal offense involved here just civil monetary offense.
So basically she will either continue to tolerate the telephone calls, or ignore them and or change her number if they will not agree to negotiate a feasible amount. However, again here in the US when you negotiate a bill down with the company yes the debt is settled then at the end of the year the government considers the written off balance as an income to your mother so she then would get a 1099 and have to pay taxes on the amount that was written off.
So either way you look at it is is no win/win, tell your mother she is not the only one as so many in this economy have lost yet even more.
@ggeeta (154)
• India
9 Sep 10
We must be aware of the rules of regulations of credit cards and loans, once you get into it, you have to come out only after settling everything in it, else as you said, there is one thing called interest which builds up day by day and some days you see a huge figure, which you never would have imagined. There is no way your mother can escape nor any individual can escape from these things. It is better that your mother speaks to these people, ask them to allow her to pay that amount in installments. I hope they will agree for this however am not completely sure of this.
@lindaharding627 (1442)
• United States
9 Sep 10
The Phillippines is considered a United States territory so the laws are the same as in the United States. I recently went through something like this. Mine was for an old loan that I had not been able to repay. The debt collection company told me that I only had till 1 pm to pay or I was going to prison on felony charges. I am a heart patient and they had me rattled and shook up. I found a site online that asked questions about debt collection harassment and filled out the form. A lawyer responded that I have a strong case and because laws were clearly broken here, he suggested that I hire him. For a debt harassment case, the victim does not have to pay anything. The court costs and attorney fees are covered by the company that violated federal law. My case will be going to court soon and the company is in trouble for saying that I will be arrested and that a warrant will be issued, for calling my mother and telling her that I was going to be arrested for a debt and for saying that it will be a felony. By law they are not allowed to say any of these things. If the harassment continues keep track of when the company called- if they identify themselves and the representatives name, date and time then contact a lawyer online who deals with debt harassment.
@annazhang (1)
• Hong Kong
8 Sep 10
you can tell service that you forgot it,and you didn't received the bill too
