Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Mississippi

Disabled Katrina Victim being hounded by MBNA Credit Card Company

My mother is 55 years old and has been legally disabled since April, 2004. She had a credit card through MBNA for approximately 20 + years. She was never late on her payments and was, as MBNA stated, ''A Preferred Customer''. She had to go to court about her disability, which took apprx. 1 year, then she began receiving Soc. Sec. During that year she began making min. payments until she got behind. Her limit was 5000.00, however, the card was canceled by MBNA when she owed 2300.00. Now, MBNA is calling her contiuously and threating her with law suits. My mom does not have a problem paying them, BUT they have been chargeing her intrest this entire time and now say that she owes 6400.00. We asked them to cancel the card and tried to come to some aggreement with them so that she could pay off the 2300.00. They have refused any offer and stated that they wanted payment in full and the interest is still building. My mom just lost everything in the Hurricane (my family also). So there is no end in sight for us. We tried to explain this to MBNA, however they do not care. My mother is afraid that they are going to sue her, force her to have to pay 4100.00 in int., and take her soc.sec. check. What can we do to stop this?


Asked on 1/21/06, 8:17 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Austin Nimocks Austin R. Nimocks & Associates, P.L.L.C.

Re: Disabled Katrina Victim being hounded by MBNA Credit Card Company

The good news is that the disability check cannot be taken or garnished. The bad news is that your mother has a written contractual agreement with MBNA that she is unable to fulfill. Most credit card agreements do not provide exceptions for disabilities or hurricanes, so the money is owed and the debt is legally enforceable. Your mom can (a) do nothing, get sued, and allow a potentially uncollectible judgment to be obtained against her, (b) pay it all off and be done with it, or (c) hire one of those non-profit credit counseling agencies to handle it for her. MBNA will hound and harass her for awhile, but they will most likely eventually (through their collection agency or their attorney) wise up and settle the balance with you for much less than what is owed. Your mother should also formally consult a collections attorney--someone who deals with collection scenarios on a daily basis.

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Answered on 1/21/06, 9:08 pm


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