Payee representative question dealing with credit cards.

[Kefrem]

North Carolina

i have a friend who is the payee representative for her slightly disabled daughter. We have just recently discovered she has gotten ahold of 3 credit cards and has nearly max'd them out. Can they come after her mother who is the payee representative to pay the balance on the cards?

 

[quincy]

North Carolina

i have a friend who is the payee representative for her slightly disabled daughter. We have just recently discovered she has gotten ahold of 3 credit cards and has nearly max'd them out. Can they come after her mother who is the payee representative to pay the balance on the cards?

Yes.

 

[LdiJ]

Yes.

I think that "yes" is a bad answer. First, they can only come after the rep payee to the extent of the disabled person's assets. They cannot go after the rep payee's assets. Since someone on disability is exempt from a garnishment or levy for consumer debts, that makes the disabled person uncollectable.

The rep payee is never personally responsible for the disabled person's debts. They are only responsible for making sure that the necessities of life are met to the extent of the income.

If a credit card company is stupid enough to issue a credit card to someone whose only income is disability, particularly someone with a rep payee, then that credit card company is stupid in the extreme. Therefore my guess is that the initial question was posted by a troll.

 

[quincy]

I think that "yes" is a bad answer. First, they can only come after the rep payee to the extent of the disabled person's assets. They cannot go after the rep payee's assets. Since someone on disability is exempt from a garnishment or levy for consumer debts, that makes the disabled person uncollectable.

The rep payee is never personally responsible for the disabled person's debts. They are only responsible for making sure that the necessities of life are met to the extent of the income.

If a credit card company is stupid enough to issue a credit card to someone whose only income is disability, particularly someone with a rep payee, then that credit card company is stupid in the extreme. Therefore my guess is that the initial question was posted by a troll.

There are too many pronouns in the original post for me to tell who is who. But whoever it was who maxed out the three credit cards, their problem is probably not a problem a friend (Kefrem) needs to investigate.

 

[Taxing Matters]

i have a friend who is the payee representative for her slightly disabled daughter. We have just recently discovered she has gotten ahold of 3 credit cards and has nearly max'd them out. Can they come after her mother who is the payee representative to pay the balance on the cards?

Simply being the payee representative for the daughter does not make the mother responsible for her daughter's debts. So assuming that the daughter is an adult and that the mother is not the daughters legal guardian or conservator the mother should not be liable for the daughter's credit card debts. Of course, the daughter would be liable for it, at least assuming that she is mentally competent.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to payee representatives' frequently asked questions:
https://www.ssa.gov/payee/faqrep.htm

I stick with my previous "yes" answer because the representative payee CAN be pursued for payment - but all facts matter and we have not been given enough facts.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I stick with my previous "yes" answer because the representative payee CAN be pursued for payment - but all facts matter and we have not been given enough facts.

Certainly the credit card company may try to get payment from the representative payee, but to actually succeed the creditor would need more than just the fact that mother is the representative payee. The creditor has to prove that the mother herself has liability for the debt. Unless the mother personally guaranteed the debt the creditor has to show some fact that would make the mother vicariously liable. Just being the representative isn't enough for that. So while there are limited circumstances in which the mother would be liable (and as you say, we don't have all the facts) I do think that the simple "yes" answer given earlier made it appear that liability for the mother was a certainty, and obviously that wouldn't be the correct impression. In most cases the representative payee would not have to pay this debt, but certainly if the mother is sued by the credit card issuers she should consult a local attorney. Until then, she is free to ignore any collection efforts directed towards her. Dealing with the collection attempts against the daughter, though, is another matter.

 

[quincy]

The question asked was, "can they come after her ..." and the answer to that question is "yes, they can."'

I think the situation described is much too vague to know whether there is a legitimate reason for a creditor to go after the representative payee for payment of the debt. It could depend on what was purchased with the credit cards, and why.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The question asked was, "can they come after her ..." and the answer to that question is "yes, they can."'

I get that. Literally your answer was correct. But I think the OP was really asking could they successfully come after her. You've been on the boards much longer than I and surely know that when non lawyers posting here ask questions like "can I be sued" or "can they come after me" they are really wanting to know if they may be sued successfully or whether a creditor may succeed in collecting from them. With that in mind, I think the simple yes answer gave the wrong impression. You weren't wrong given the literal question asked, nor do I think you intended to give a wrong impression, but looking at what most people are intending to ask when they ask that question I can see the possibility of the OP walking away with the wrong idea from that "yes" answer.

 

[quincy]

I get that. Literally your answer was correct. But I think the OP was really asking could they successfully come after her. You've been on the boards much longer than I and surely know that when non lawyers posting here ask questions like "can I be sued" or "can they come after me" they are really wanting to know if they may be sued successfully or whether a creditor may succeed in collecting from them. With that in mind, I think the simple yes answer gave the wrong impression. You weren't wrong given the literal question asked, nor do I think you intended to give a wrong impression, but looking at what most people are intending to ask when they ask that question I can see the possibility of the OP walking away with the wrong idea from that "yes" answer.

Okay. I agree. And my typical answer to a question of the sort posed here would be "it depends." If the "yes" answer worked to confuse, I apologize.

Kefrem is a friend of the representative payee, however, and is unlikely to have the facts necessary to give a better answer than my typical "it depends," though.

We do not know under whose name these credit cards were issued or the age of the beneficiary.

The beneficiary "got ahold" of three credit cards. It was not said these cards were issued to the beneficiary. If these are cards belonging to the representative payee, the credit card companies can seek payment from the representative payee.

Or, if the representative payee is misusing the beneficiary's funds and/or if the credit cards are being used by the beneficiary to purchase needed food or clothing or medicine (items that should be taken care of by representative payee) or ... well, there are a host of ways the representative payee could be held responsible for the credit card debts.

The representative payee is probably not going to share any incriminating information with a friend.

The link I provided gives contact numbers if there are questions about how either the beneficiary or the representative are using funds.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Kefrem is a friend of the representative payee, however, and is unlikely to have the facts necessary to give a better answer than my typical "it depends," though.

Yep, I agree with that. And certainly we don't have all the facts either, so "it depends" is about all anyone here can do, aside from pointing out that the friend is not going to be liable just because she is the representative payee. But other facts not shared here might make her liable.

 

[quincy]

Yes. Facts matter.

 

[Dandy Don]

The credit cards were issued in whose name: the disabled daughter's name or the representative payee's name?

 

[quincy]

The credit cards were issued in whose name: the disabled daughter's name or the representative payee's name?

That is a question I asked, as well. The answer to that question makes a big difference in the answer to Kefrem's question.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Temporary bump.