help with gramdma in a nursing home and her bill

[KELL]

What is the name of your state? New York
Earlier this year my grandmother was unexpectantly put in a nursing home. She has cronic heart problems etc. She had an outstanding credit card bill with Visa with a balance of about $ 2,200.00 I am now getting letters and harassing phone calls about this and the collection agency is telling me that If I don't pay the bill for her within a certian amount of time that I had better get myself a good lawyer. I am not on the account with her, therefore I am not liable, am I? She now has NO source of income as her social security has stopped and she has been put on Medicaid. It's not like she isn't paying the bill because she doesn't want to. She has No assets and a very small life insurance policy that isn't even enough to pay for her funeral when she does pass. What can I do to make the phone calls and threats to stop. Legally, if they find out what Nursing Home she is in, can they call her and harass her too? Thanks for your help.

 

[joseph17]

help with Grandma

I am not an attorney.

Why are they calling you? Do you have power of attorney or are you her guardian, or are you the contact person should something happen to her?

If you have no legal or financial relationship to her, other than being her grandson, I don't see how they can sue you for the bill. I don't know if there are any laws regarding harrassing nursing home patients, but I imagine they'll try anything until they are stopped!

Even though it is my layperson's understanding that a credit card debt is usually unsecured, I imagine they could somehow sue her for defaulting and attach a lien to any property she owns (real or personal), but the credit card company takes a risk of not getting paid as it is an unsecure debt (but makes up for the losses by insurance and/or high credit card rates). If she dies, with the debt, pehaps it won't get paid if there are other higher priority debts to be paid(in NJ reasonable funeral costs and costs of administration are 2 highest priority claims in an insolvent estate).

I do think that if they play any shenanigan's with your credit history/report, and you have no legal responsibility toward the financial affairs of your grandmother, that you would have some right to sue the credit card company in some way.

But, since I'm not an attorney, perhaps one can clarify.

Joe/NJ

 

[nailtech]

your not responsible in anyway, and do not send them anything... just give them any excuse you can cause I dont see them beating the government out of their money if she does pass.

better yet, when they call, you tell them "she passing away tomorrow and you will send them the papers when she does", we all know tomorrow never comes...... and that was not intended to be disrespectful in anyway........ ok....

 

[KELL]

Joe and nailtech.
Thanks for your responses. They are calling me because before she was put in the nursing home she was in the hospital for about 4 weeks. I called Visa to let them know and to get an address for them so that I could mail a payment for my grandmother. Soon after we found out that she was going directly from the hospital to the home. I called Visa again to let them know.Now they claim that they can't discuss the account with me. Then nana wrote a letter to them giving them permisson to discuss her account with me and to change her mailing address to my house. After about 3 months of no payments that whan all hell broke loose and the letters and phone calls started. I mean this woman that calls is beyond nasty. She tells me that if I cared about my grandma I woould pay her bill. Then keeps giving me daedlines as to when the bill "better" be paid. Should I choose not to pay it I had better get myself a good lawyer. I just wrote them a letter telling them that if the threats continue it will be her that needs a good lawyer. Is it true that if I request in writting to stop calling me, legally they have to stop? I called the home and spoke to the social worker to ask what if they call her there, she explained that they can't get my grandmothers private # b/c it is unlisted and they can't get through her via the home and if they try they will be making a big mistake.

 

[KELL]

BTW, I forgot to mention she has NO assets, she lived in an apartment and her life insurance is only $ 1,000.00. Which as morbid as it sounds, we have already made funeral arrangements with a funeral home with it, as per the nursing home's advice. Can get blood from a stone, huh?

 

[FarmerJ]

For Now next time they call you on the phone Tell them in plain english your recording this call , ( Bluff) they are to stop calling you about this bill since it is not your account . Any more calls and the recordings (bluff ) will be used to make formal complaints to state agencys . Perhaps this bluff will make them stop telephoning you