|
Dear Bankruptcy Adviser,
My grandmother filed for and was granted bankruptcy
after her children helped her run up credit card
debt of $18,000. Since she was granted bankruptcy,
she has gotten three more credit cards. She is
illiterate and unable to read, so I know that
one of her kids is helping her fill out the papers;
they are also helping her run up the bill.
Can my grandmother go to jail for committing credit card fraud after filing bankruptcy? My grandmother is a simple-minded person on a fixed income. She feels that she is helping her kids and it is not against the law; otherwise the credit card companies wouldn't give her a card. What should we do?
-- Barbara
Dear Barbara,
You are right to be concerned for your grandmother.
I can understand her desire to help her children,
but based on the facts given, it appears that
she may have lied about her income on a credit
card application, and if that is true, then yes,
she has committed fraud. People who have recently
declared bankruptcy often receive credit card
offers, but of course, the offers are not guaranteed
and low-income applicants will usually be rejected.
Most creditors will not approve an applicant on
a fixed income like Social Security.
In most fraud cases, the applicant includes her income and the income of others living in her home (or someone she knows), and the credit card company approves the application based in part on the higher (fraudulent) income. Lying on a credit card application is definitely against the law.
As for whether your grandmother can go to jail for committing
credit card fraud, you may be surprised to learn
that many people never go to jail for this kind
of fraud. In your grandmother's case, a creditor
would probably decide the amount of debt owed
was not worth the expense of suing a grandmother
on a fixed income. Also, while a judge would likely
conclude that your grandmother did commit fraud,
creditors usually want to get paid rather than
put someone in jail. In jail, your grandmother
would earn about $1 per day, and that would never
pay off the balance!
|
