cc debt & ex-husband

[aprildawn]

my ex-husband is responsible for 4 cc accounts per our divorce judgement. 2 of the ccs would not release my name because i am primary on them. i was under the impression that my ex had removed my name from the other 2. all bills have been going to him.

about 3 weeks ago, i started receiving collection calls from two of the cards. i got copies of my credit reports & found out that my name is on all 4 cards yet & my creidt score has dropped around 200 points.

i have a court date as my ex is in contempt of court for not staying current on these cards. is there anyway to improve my credit score if he gets these accounts paid off since i never received the monthly bills & did not know that he was not paying them?

[LittleMsMom]

What you need to do is this...

Call the credit card companies. Tell them you are divorced and no longer want JOINT Accounts. It is after the fact but your only recourse maybe to cancel the cards. If you are primary and they do not want to have your Ex as the only credit card holder then he is out of luck.

Until you are off the accounts you could be held responsible for additional charges because the fine print on your credit card contract might say you are authorizing him to make charges. So in order for you to unauthorize him to make future charges you need to call them.

When I got divorced, I ended up having to Close ALL joint accounts and the CC companies and Banks just had EX reapply for a NEW CC and Accounts based on his information because they did not want to just take one person off the account.

Since there is a balance the CLOSED accounts might still show up on your credit report until he pays in full but a closed account is MUCH better than a Open account that is getting larger and more past-due.

Good Luck!

*** Edit ...Once the credit cards are no longer in your name then you can put your energy into fixing the error with the credit reporting agencies. It is easier and faster to have the CC company report the correct information once you have dealt with them directly and then fix any remaining errors on the report; than to try to fix the report just to have it unfixed the next month when the CC reports it past due again.

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

Unfortunately, a divorce doesn't absolve you from credit obligations the judge decides your ex will pay. The original contract with the creditor still trumps everything, so that's why your name is still attached to all 4 of these accounts. You'll need to work directly with the creditors to get your name removed. Of course, you can try to dispute the accounts through the credit bureaus as well, but the fact remains that these accounts are technically still yours. You may not have any luck. It's still worth a try though- provide as much documentation as you can supporting your case.

[aprildawn]

all of the accounts are closed. being that i was the primary on them & my ex was just an authorized user, 2 of them refuse to remove my name even though my ex has informed them that he will take responsibilty for them. i am working on getting my name removed from the other two. i assumed that was already done since my ex was ordered to do this at our divorce hearing.

one thing that i have learned. each spouse should have their own credit card.

[LittleMsMom]

Since the accounts are closed...

Depending on the amount of the total bill, (since you already have a court date) it might be in your best interest to talk to the judge and see if you can get some other Asset that you can sell off to pay off the bills. Maybe there is an asset that you want that is the same cost as the bills and you can trade.

How much is the debt? I ask because if it is LOW it might be in your best interest to just pay off the debt and have the credit score go back to normal, and call it leason learned.

When I go divorced I knew my EX was going to rack up his CC before long so I used assets to pay off all the debts (besides house) and closed all joint accounts. I had copies of his last CC statement before the divorce so I could prove it was Paid in Full. Sadly within 6 months I was getting calls from creditors because he FORGOT to change the phone number he gave them.

Good Luck

[Student Loan Settlement]

What usually happens when one or more accounts are delinquent, the cc companies will make every attempt to after anyone who is currently listed on the account as primary or secondary holder. Some collection companies even go after authorized users, but that is against the law, and its a completely different subject (I'm not going to get into details here). So, once the due date on the account had passed and the payment wasn't made within 30 business days, there is no way in hell the cc company would remove your name from the account, even if you're listed as secondary borrower. By removing a joint holder, a cc company greatly decrease it's chances to collect outstanding debt, should the borrower go into default.

If you feel that your name shouldn't have been on the bill to begin with, call your attorney and if you can prove your case, your score can be reinstated back to where it was.

Hope it helps

[mumpast]

I would make sure that these accounts are closed and paid in full. As long as this debt is out there the creditor will hold you accountable. The creditor doesn't care about your divorce papers. When you go to court make sure these debts get pid off. It's not as simple as removing a name. These accounts need to be paid in full.

[SarahJ]

This situation will have a negative impact on your credit score for some time. Your best bet after the balances are paid off is to add a note to your credit report with a short explanation about your situation. Then try to get at least one new account and pay it faithfully to rebuild trust. Your credit score will eventually go back up it will just take time.

[Eric80]

I'm not too sure about this but speak to citizens advice as they will be able to advise you on what you need to do and also whether you should go through the courts or speak to the banks?