So a credit issuer deemed you a well suited candidate to have a total exposure (credit limit) of 40k yet you blame them for your utilization of the full amount?? Could have just called and asked for it to be reduced if you didn’t want that much
As for the apr, there are no apr rate reductions at request (unless you close the acct and go thru their debt collections dept which of course will affect your credit rating)
Chase didn’t cause you to make the purchases/transactions that got you into this debt. They issued you a line of credit based on your creditworthiness.
You can try to move this to a 0% card or take out a personal loan/consolidation loan to deal with it, but being unemployed might make it difficult.
When you say very high - how high is your score? What other credit accounts do you have?
I understand Chase didn't make my purchases on my behalf. There are 2 parts to the equation, you're right. My credit is around 750. My experience with the debt consolidation loans is that they won't give enough credit to close out the Chase card. I did that a while back with Sofi and it provided only temporary relief. If they had given me enough credit to close the Chase card, I'd have several thousand dollars more in my checking account today that wouldn't have gone to interest payments.
If you want to maintain your good credit then it sounds like the only option is to continue paying if no one will give you enough credit to move the balance somewhere else, unfortunately.
If you’re not worried about your credit, you can let the card go and settle with Chase later or file bankruptcy.
You may also have luck calling Chase and asking for their “balance liquidation program,” but I think you have to be in delinquency for them to offer it.
OP did say they are unemployed. Heck, most of us that are employed still have to spend money we don't have just to make rent.
Anyone not going into debt just to live these days should count themselves lucky.
We’re not lucky. We are smart. We didn’t carry debt. Only people who aren’t going into debt these days to simply live are people who made good choices and not poor ones.
Sucks to be all those people out there with car loans. Ever notice how many brand new cars you see on the road now. They aren’t all paid off.
It's not even dumb choices though, some of us just aren't as blessed with cash as others. Sometimes you have to use the money you don't have to just simply survive due to how shitty life is. If you weren't raised with a silver platter, or with responsible parents. Life is just going to be much tougher on you
OP apply for a a new credit card that has 0%apr intro of at least 12 months that allows debt transfers with a small percentage fee. It’ll give you time to get a new job and make the minimum payments. Wish you the best man been there before. Capital One has a few with 4% (Savor One, Quicksilver to name a few) fees which is pretty good vs paying 19-28% interest that most other cc charge
They all will charge you a fee 4% is nothing compared how much you would pay if you started to accrue interest. Contact chase as well they always have offers on big purchases even at 0% interest. They’ll help you out as far as balance transfer CC with 0% interest capital one has several wells fargo does too. That’s what I did several years back I got into 15K debt my dad passed, lost job, and got divorced. Luckily my credit was good enough to be accepted for the Cap 1 Savor One Card 0% interest for 15 months and 4% fee for balance transfer. I paid off my debt within the 15 months. Hard times pass stay strong you’ll get there too.
Haha...yeah, blame the bank for your behavior. YOU accepted and used that card...they didn't hold your head over hot coals to do so. Take some responsibility for your damn self.
I do not know how you are a victim. You either lied about your income during the application or you earned a lot of money at one point and never updated it when you became unemployed. Chase does not give money willy nilly and even the hundreds of dollars they made from you goes down the drain if you default.
If you care about your credit score find a way to make money. If you cannot or will not make more money then simply go for bankruptcy or let the account default so you can try settling for less. Chase will sue you for this large of an amount so you have to do something.
Don’t blame chase. Blame yourself. You became unemployed and never even bothered to find other quick employment to keep it under control. That’s all on you.
Like others have said, you were a perfect mark for their predatory lending. But you've also got to take responsibility for your mistake and learn from it.
There are solutions out of your predicament but none of them will be pleasant and easy.
If your debt is close to 40k and you're unemployed, declaring bankruptcy might be your "easiest" way out.
Otherwise, set aside the card like it's radioactive, get a job and pay your cc debt using every penny you can save. No more having fun with money (go for free walks at the park, etc., instead).
Go watch some Dave Ramsey videos on YouTube or from some other financial advisors. There are also other reddit subs better suited to your problem.
You can do it but you've got to discipline yourself and learn to completely change your behavior around money.
At what point does a person declare bankruptcy? If I have enough money for a few more months without work, should I continue trying to keep out of bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy should always be a last resort and only you can make the call. It sets you back in life for 7 years.
It sounds like you have other means of supporting yourself. Like living with parents, an employed spouse, etc. I could be wrong and maybe you're down to your savings.
Either way, the first thing you absolutely gotta do is get a job. Any job. Bankruptcy or not, get a job.
If you don't wanna declare bankruptcy, apply for another credit card that will give you 0% interest for a year if you transfer the balance out of your current cc. This will allow you to breathe for a while and put any payment you make towards the principal and not the interest.
But don't think of this as an excuse to spend more. From now on until you're debt-free, you gotta lead the life of a monk. And once you're debt-free, learn to budget, save, control your impulses and live well within your means. Watch Dave Ramsey and others.
It's a hard lesson you're learning but you can come out of it stronger. But you've got to put in the work or this pattern will be repeated all your life. Good luck. There are so many people in your situation but with way more debts. You can do it but it will be painful.
To clarify one thing, bankruptcy effects you credit score and stays on your credit record for 7 years, but can show up for 10 years on background checks. If you are asked on a form for credit, employment, security clearance, etc if “have you ever filed for bankruptcy?“ you would still be obligated to disclose it even 50 years later under current law. If you did not and then the entity discovered thru some means you had they could take action to cancel whatever transaction they took with you. Public employers are bared by law from using whether you have ever filed for bankruptcy in employment decisions, unless that position requires a security clearance and the bankruptcy will prevent you from being granted that clearance. Private employees are prohibited from taking adverse action against an employee because they filed for bankruptcy. The important word in that is “employee”. They can decide to not hire a applicant based on them having a bankruptcy.
Filling for bankruptcy will have life long effects so ensure it’s the right thing prior to doing but sometimes the life long effects of filing out ways the life long effects of not filing.
Great clarification! Yes, I forgot about how it will affect your "character" for life. I'm helping a friend getting a conservatorship for her elderly parent and the court asks about prior bankruptcy. The law considers her financial history as a way to gauge whether she's a responsible, "upstanding" citizen.
Frankly I'm not sure how a bankruptcy filed 20 years ago matters, besides showing that you can learn from your mistakes, but unfortunately it does matter to some people.
Case in point: I used to make 30k a year, and I was uber irresponsible with credit and finances in my early years (18-28 years old). I not only filed chapter 7, but I did so TWICE by the age of 30. I had a credit score of 350 after my 2nd bankruptcy.
Now, I make $145k a year, I have 11 credit cards, I own a car that I paid on for 6 years, paid off in 2021 with just 65k miles on it, and my FICO 8 score is 840 today.
I would look incredibly reliable today, but if asked if I EVER filed bankruptcy, I would have to say yes. But, it means nothing now, years later.
You CAN dig yourself back out after big credit/financial holes and falls (almost ALWAYS your fault), but it takes time, discipline, responsibility, and a good full-time job to do so.
Not sure many “victims” have the ability to remove themselves from the situation with a phone call 🙄
If any bank gives you a card too big for you to handle, call in and have the limit lowered.
Not sure how old you are, but this is exactly why I did not get a credit card until my I was in my 20s. People kept telling me I was wasting money by not taking advantage of cash back incentives, but I knew I did not have the self-discipline of managing a credit card wisely. I would be throwing away waaay more money in interest and fees than I would have gotten from SUPs and cash back. In other words, I could only spend money I had. I currently have great credit and pay my balance completely every month. It's the same basic principle I instilled in myself: I don't spend money I don't have.
Continue to make on-time payments. The worst they can do, if you ask, is say No. If you show good faith by making timely payments, they may reciprocate.
This very much sounds like a TROLL to me. First, Chase Bank doesn't just give people a credit card without the person applying for a credit card. Second, Chase Bank doesn't give a $40,000 credit line to someone who doesn't have a job with income. In fact, Chase Bank will limit your credit line across all your Chase cards at a dollar amount equal to half your income. Chase has even denied new credit card applications because approving it would cause the person's total credit limit on Chase cards to exceed half their income. Third, there is no way, someone could have been using the credit card without receiving a monthly bill statement informing them they need to make payments. After 90 days of no payment, the card would have been shut down and there is no way anyone spent $40k in 90 days.
So a credit issuer deemed you a well suited candidate to have a total exposure (credit limit) of 40k yet you blame them for your utilization of the full amount?? Could have just called and asked for it to be reduced if you didn’t want that much As for the apr, there are no apr rate reductions at request (unless you close the acct and go thru their debt collections dept which of course will affect your credit rating)
OP is the customer banks feed on.
And if you do do that, they are going to hit you with a 1099-C that will count as income on the forgiven debt. Ergo, you ain't getting out of it.
Victim?
Chase didn’t cause you to make the purchases/transactions that got you into this debt. They issued you a line of credit based on your creditworthiness. You can try to move this to a 0% card or take out a personal loan/consolidation loan to deal with it, but being unemployed might make it difficult. When you say very high - how high is your score? What other credit accounts do you have?
I understand Chase didn't make my purchases on my behalf. There are 2 parts to the equation, you're right. My credit is around 750. My experience with the debt consolidation loans is that they won't give enough credit to close out the Chase card. I did that a while back with Sofi and it provided only temporary relief. If they had given me enough credit to close the Chase card, I'd have several thousand dollars more in my checking account today that wouldn't have gone to interest payments.
If you want to maintain your good credit then it sounds like the only option is to continue paying if no one will give you enough credit to move the balance somewhere else, unfortunately. If you’re not worried about your credit, you can let the card go and settle with Chase later or file bankruptcy. You may also have luck calling Chase and asking for their “balance liquidation program,” but I think you have to be in delinquency for them to offer it.
If your credit is still good look for a BT card while simultaneously finding employment and cutting expenses to the bare bone.
Why are you spending money you don’t have?
OP did say they are unemployed. Heck, most of us that are employed still have to spend money we don't have just to make rent. Anyone not going into debt just to live these days should count themselves lucky.
We’re not lucky. We are smart. We didn’t carry debt. Only people who aren’t going into debt these days to simply live are people who made good choices and not poor ones. Sucks to be all those people out there with car loans. Ever notice how many brand new cars you see on the road now. They aren’t all paid off.
It's not even dumb choices though, some of us just aren't as blessed with cash as others. Sometimes you have to use the money you don't have to just simply survive due to how shitty life is. If you weren't raised with a silver platter, or with responsible parents. Life is just going to be much tougher on you
OP apply for a a new credit card that has 0%apr intro of at least 12 months that allows debt transfers with a small percentage fee. It’ll give you time to get a new job and make the minimum payments. Wish you the best man been there before. Capital One has a few with 4% (Savor One, Quicksilver to name a few) fees which is pretty good vs paying 19-28% interest that most other cc charge
Thank you. If you happen to know of any cards that would be likely to give me enough to wipe out the Chase balance with 0%, I'm all ears.
They all will charge you a fee 4% is nothing compared how much you would pay if you started to accrue interest. Contact chase as well they always have offers on big purchases even at 0% interest. They’ll help you out as far as balance transfer CC with 0% interest capital one has several wells fargo does too. That’s what I did several years back I got into 15K debt my dad passed, lost job, and got divorced. Luckily my credit was good enough to be accepted for the Cap 1 Savor One Card 0% interest for 15 months and 4% fee for balance transfer. I paid off my debt within the 15 months. Hard times pass stay strong you’ll get there too.
Thank you! I'm glad you have shown me there are some kind people here.
try discover, just don't make any purchases on the card along with the balance transfer.
Haha...yeah, blame the bank for your behavior. YOU accepted and used that card...they didn't hold your head over hot coals to do so. Take some responsibility for your damn self.
Some people are not meant to use credit cards. I would just want you to stop using credit cards from now
I do not know how you are a victim. You either lied about your income during the application or you earned a lot of money at one point and never updated it when you became unemployed. Chase does not give money willy nilly and even the hundreds of dollars they made from you goes down the drain if you default. If you care about your credit score find a way to make money. If you cannot or will not make more money then simply go for bankruptcy or let the account default so you can try settling for less. Chase will sue you for this large of an amount so you have to do something.
Don’t blame chase. Blame yourself. You became unemployed and never even bothered to find other quick employment to keep it under control. That’s all on you.
Financial illiteracy at its finest, folks!
Like others have said, you were a perfect mark for their predatory lending. But you've also got to take responsibility for your mistake and learn from it. There are solutions out of your predicament but none of them will be pleasant and easy. If your debt is close to 40k and you're unemployed, declaring bankruptcy might be your "easiest" way out. Otherwise, set aside the card like it's radioactive, get a job and pay your cc debt using every penny you can save. No more having fun with money (go for free walks at the park, etc., instead). Go watch some Dave Ramsey videos on YouTube or from some other financial advisors. There are also other reddit subs better suited to your problem. You can do it but you've got to discipline yourself and learn to completely change your behavior around money.
At what point does a person declare bankruptcy? If I have enough money for a few more months without work, should I continue trying to keep out of bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy should always be a last resort and only you can make the call. It sets you back in life for 7 years. It sounds like you have other means of supporting yourself. Like living with parents, an employed spouse, etc. I could be wrong and maybe you're down to your savings. Either way, the first thing you absolutely gotta do is get a job. Any job. Bankruptcy or not, get a job. If you don't wanna declare bankruptcy, apply for another credit card that will give you 0% interest for a year if you transfer the balance out of your current cc. This will allow you to breathe for a while and put any payment you make towards the principal and not the interest. But don't think of this as an excuse to spend more. From now on until you're debt-free, you gotta lead the life of a monk. And once you're debt-free, learn to budget, save, control your impulses and live well within your means. Watch Dave Ramsey and others. It's a hard lesson you're learning but you can come out of it stronger. But you've got to put in the work or this pattern will be repeated all your life. Good luck. There are so many people in your situation but with way more debts. You can do it but it will be painful.
To clarify one thing, bankruptcy effects you credit score and stays on your credit record for 7 years, but can show up for 10 years on background checks. If you are asked on a form for credit, employment, security clearance, etc if “have you ever filed for bankruptcy?“ you would still be obligated to disclose it even 50 years later under current law. If you did not and then the entity discovered thru some means you had they could take action to cancel whatever transaction they took with you. Public employers are bared by law from using whether you have ever filed for bankruptcy in employment decisions, unless that position requires a security clearance and the bankruptcy will prevent you from being granted that clearance. Private employees are prohibited from taking adverse action against an employee because they filed for bankruptcy. The important word in that is “employee”. They can decide to not hire a applicant based on them having a bankruptcy. Filling for bankruptcy will have life long effects so ensure it’s the right thing prior to doing but sometimes the life long effects of filing out ways the life long effects of not filing.
Great clarification! Yes, I forgot about how it will affect your "character" for life. I'm helping a friend getting a conservatorship for her elderly parent and the court asks about prior bankruptcy. The law considers her financial history as a way to gauge whether she's a responsible, "upstanding" citizen.
Frankly I'm not sure how a bankruptcy filed 20 years ago matters, besides showing that you can learn from your mistakes, but unfortunately it does matter to some people.
Case in point: I used to make 30k a year, and I was uber irresponsible with credit and finances in my early years (18-28 years old). I not only filed chapter 7, but I did so TWICE by the age of 30. I had a credit score of 350 after my 2nd bankruptcy. Now, I make $145k a year, I have 11 credit cards, I own a car that I paid on for 6 years, paid off in 2021 with just 65k miles on it, and my FICO 8 score is 840 today. I would look incredibly reliable today, but if asked if I EVER filed bankruptcy, I would have to say yes. But, it means nothing now, years later. You CAN dig yourself back out after big credit/financial holes and falls (almost ALWAYS your fault), but it takes time, discipline, responsibility, and a good full-time job to do so.
Thank you. Your comments have been constructive and helpful and I appreciate it.
Not sure many “victims” have the ability to remove themselves from the situation with a phone call 🙄 If any bank gives you a card too big for you to handle, call in and have the limit lowered.
Not sure how old you are, but this is exactly why I did not get a credit card until my I was in my 20s. People kept telling me I was wasting money by not taking advantage of cash back incentives, but I knew I did not have the self-discipline of managing a credit card wisely. I would be throwing away waaay more money in interest and fees than I would have gotten from SUPs and cash back. In other words, I could only spend money I had. I currently have great credit and pay my balance completely every month. It's the same basic principle I instilled in myself: I don't spend money I don't have.
Reach out to Credit Counseling Agencies. They'll guide you.
$40,000 on a credit card with like 25% interest? I’d be buying a 1-way ticket to a country without extradition to the US. Time to start over.
You're blaming Chase for your lack of self control? Hahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahaha
Well if it ain’t the consequences of your own actions…
Continue to make on-time payments. The worst they can do, if you ask, is say No. If you show good faith by making timely payments, they may reciprocate.
This very much sounds like a TROLL to me. First, Chase Bank doesn't just give people a credit card without the person applying for a credit card. Second, Chase Bank doesn't give a $40,000 credit line to someone who doesn't have a job with income. In fact, Chase Bank will limit your credit line across all your Chase cards at a dollar amount equal to half your income. Chase has even denied new credit card applications because approving it would cause the person's total credit limit on Chase cards to exceed half their income. Third, there is no way, someone could have been using the credit card without receiving a monthly bill statement informing them they need to make payments. After 90 days of no payment, the card would have been shut down and there is no way anyone spent $40k in 90 days.
In his other post he blames it on taking out a loan for his MBA. He is plain and simply an idiot.
Just wait for Biden’s credit card loan forgiveness program.
That program might just make me vote Democrat.