In August of 2010 my Mum suffered a hemorrhagic stroke of her left frontal lobe. For us lay-people this when blood bleeds into the brain and reeks all kinds of havoc up to killing the person. The pressure on the brain and the toxicity of the blood are not good. This type of stroke is typically caused by high blood pressure which me Mum has.
In order to prevent death timeliness of care is paramount. My Mum was at the a hair salon so you know the personnel were ready to respond in a professional manner. I will skip the details but her stroke involved paramedics, a helicopter flight to a neurological specialist center (about $13,000) and the miracle drug tPA. tPa or Tissue Plasminogen Activator is a medication which is used to break up blood clots during an acute (read:bad) stroke. It saved Mum’s life.
I told that story to tell you this one.
For some reason my Mum on a small fixed income was extended credit by two Bank, Wells Fargo (@ 29.99% interest) and GE Money Bank (@ 24.99% interest). Since my Mum is recovering and has aphasia which means she has challenges converting thought to action so math is not an area she excels in during her recovery.
Needless to say after her stroke I had to get a Power of Attorney to handle Mum’s finances as she recovers and since she has such a small fixed income and is 75 years old I had to allocate all monies to living and medical expenses. Mum has no real upside to get a job, cannot drive a car so I talked to our financial panner and decided that these insanely expensive lines of credit were not going to be paid.At 75 with a bankruptcy already under her belt, Mum was not going to waste money on these predatory lenders. I then contacted both creditors and here is how the conversations typically go:
Loan Shark - “May I speak to (name withheld)?”
Me - “No.”
LS - “I am trying to contact (name withheld).”
Me - “Can I take a message?”
LS - “Can I talk to her spouse?”
Me - “She’s not married.”
LS - “Our records indicate she is past due on (pick the account) and I am trying to set up a payment schedule.”
Me - “ Oh, you can talk to me on (date) I sent is a letter and copy of the Power of Attorney so I can represent her on all financial and other matters.”
(Some paper shuffling some research by the LS and verify my ID)
LS - “Mr X, (name withheld) is past due and I need to get a payment schedule set up to clear this debt.”
Me - “Not gonna happen.”
LS - “She is not going to make payments?”
Me - “That is correct.”
LS - “Mr. X (name withheld) is past due a significant amount of time and I have to talk to her about payment.”
Me “Look (name withheld) suffered a stroke in August of last year and all of her small fixed income is going to medical and living expenses. You need to write this account off.”
LS - “Mr. X (name withheld) entered a legally binding agreement to pay this credit back. I simply cannot write it off. May I speak with (name withheld)?”
Me - “I understand that this is a shock and you may or may not believe me, but (name withheld) is not going to pay. When a loss is experienced often there is denial, anger, attempts at bargaining, which you are doing now followed by depression, eventual acceptance and then moving on. I am here to to get you past the denial, anger and bargaining and hope to leave you depressed over this matter.”
LS - “Thank you, good-bye.”
In order to prevent death timeliness of care is paramount. My Mum was at the a hair salon so you know the personnel were ready to respond in a professional manner. I will skip the details but her stroke involved paramedics, a helicopter flight to a neurological specialist center (about $13,000) and the miracle drug tPA. tPa or Tissue Plasminogen Activator is a medication which is used to break up blood clots during an acute (read:bad) stroke. It saved Mum’s life.
I told that story to tell you this one.
For some reason my Mum on a small fixed income was extended credit by two Bank, Wells Fargo (@ 29.99% interest) and GE Money Bank (@ 24.99% interest). Since my Mum is recovering and has aphasia which means she has challenges converting thought to action so math is not an area she excels in during her recovery.
Needless to say after her stroke I had to get a Power of Attorney to handle Mum’s finances as she recovers and since she has such a small fixed income and is 75 years old I had to allocate all monies to living and medical expenses. Mum has no real upside to get a job, cannot drive a car so I talked to our financial panner and decided that these insanely expensive lines of credit were not going to be paid.At 75 with a bankruptcy already under her belt, Mum was not going to waste money on these predatory lenders. I then contacted both creditors and here is how the conversations typically go:
Loan Shark - “May I speak to (name withheld)?”
Me - “No.”
LS - “I am trying to contact (name withheld).”
Me - “Can I take a message?”
LS - “Can I talk to her spouse?”
Me - “She’s not married.”
LS - “Our records indicate she is past due on (pick the account) and I am trying to set up a payment schedule.”
Me - “ Oh, you can talk to me on (date) I sent is a letter and copy of the Power of Attorney so I can represent her on all financial and other matters.”
(Some paper shuffling some research by the LS and verify my ID)
LS - “Mr X, (name withheld) is past due and I need to get a payment schedule set up to clear this debt.”
Me - “Not gonna happen.”
LS - “She is not going to make payments?”
Me - “That is correct.”
LS - “Mr. X (name withheld) is past due a significant amount of time and I have to talk to her about payment.”
Me “Look (name withheld) suffered a stroke in August of last year and all of her small fixed income is going to medical and living expenses. You need to write this account off.”
LS - “Mr. X (name withheld) entered a legally binding agreement to pay this credit back. I simply cannot write it off. May I speak with (name withheld)?”
Me - “I understand that this is a shock and you may or may not believe me, but (name withheld) is not going to pay. When a loss is experienced often there is denial, anger, attempts at bargaining, which you are doing now followed by depression, eventual acceptance and then moving on. I am here to to get you past the denial, anger and bargaining and hope to leave you depressed over this matter.”
LS - “Thank you, good-bye.”
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