16 with credit card debt?

OK- here it goes. i%26#039;m 16 years old, and i live in california. about 6 months ago an offer came in the mail for a credit card. without informing my parents, i filled out the application online just to see, not expecting to be approved because of my age, but i was approved with a $4,000 credit line.

i have a pretty good job and i figured i%26#039;d keep it to buy stuff online because my bank wouldn%26#039;t give me a visa card linked to my account, because i wasn%26#039;t 18.

well, stupidly i got out of control, and ended up spending $3,600 over a few months at the apple store.

my parents found out when he bill came, and let%26#039;s just say i had a talkin to.

anyway, i%26#039;ve been paying every 2 weeks, and my debt is down to $1,600.

i watch the people court, and isn%26#039;t a contract voidable if i%26#039;m a minor? if i contact the credit company, could i negotiate some sort of settlement due to that fact? do they do things like that?

i%26#039;m not looking for a free ride, i know i owe the money and i%26#039;ve been paying...

16 with credit card debt?

You could try to argue the point that because you were a minor...and they could come back and say that you, as a minor had tried to defraud them (by filling out the application and lying.) If you were my child , you would be working your fingers to the bone paying that back and I applaud your parents for doing exactly that.

Chalk this up to a lesson learned...

16 with credit card debt?

You need to get into habit of paying off your own debt. Cut it up and pay it off. It will make all the difference with your credit line in the future if you can pay off your own debts. The future is what is important here. You want a house? A car? Pay it off.

16 with credit card debt?

I%26#039;d pay it a little @ a time, your already doing it.

don%26#039;t ruin your credit, you%26#039;ll see later just how important it can be.

16 with credit card debt?

I do not believe the contract with a minor works here because you spent their money (credit). If the money is not returned they can sue you and your parents. If they only sue you they usually have 5 to 10 years after you turn 21 to collect the money which will destroy an already fragile credit score. If they sue your parents their credit can go bad. The fact you are already half way there is a good sign and may actually improve your credit score as you are showing payments. I am sure you learn that these pre-approved credit cards are not always good.

16 with credit card debt?

Yes, I agree with everyone else...

Just pay it off, because if you get into a lawsuit/settlement.. They will close down your account, and it will affect your score,, probably in more than one way...

Also, since, you are young.. I would rip up the credit card.. Though, do not close down your account with the company... This will drastically affect your credit score...

A big factor of scoring.. Is how much available credit you have... Right now, you have $4,000 in available credit... Which is taken into account for scoring.. When you close out your account.. Your credit score will drop.. Because, you don%26#039;t have the $4,000 in available credit...

Just keep up the hard work.. That allowed you to get $4,000 in available credit.. That is, if you didn%26#039;t have to forge your parents name on the account... Because, $4,000 credit for a 16 years old is good.. Much less, anyone with there first credit card..

16 with credit card debt?

Pay it off or you will get a bad credit rating and wont get credit in the future.

16 with credit card debt?

Ive been threw somthing similar. When i was 17 yrs old i had a checking account with wachovia. And I wrote about 9 bounced checks to walmart within a months period. So i owed walmart about $700 and wachovia $922. I didnt pay them at all. I thought that they forgot about it or i was excused because i was a minor at the time and i thought it was illegal for them to allow a 17 yr old to have checks.

Well 3 yrs later right before tax season this year i just got the wachovia bill in the mail. It was a huge shock to me. A couple days ago i bought a credit report to see exactly whats bringing my credit down. And wachovia was on there but not walmart. One day your going to want to get a loan for whatever reason and if you owe someone and the collection agency is out for you, you can kiss that loan goodbye before you even see it

16 with credit card debt?

It is possible that the contract would be voidable HOWEVER, it is likely you had to lie about your age on the credit application which very possibly would make it not voidable and expose you to a civil suit. In addition, just because you are under 18 does not mean they credit company can%26#039;t report true accurate and NEGATIVE information on your credit report, in this case a chargeoff which will stay on your credit report for at least 7 years. So down the road, you graduate college, your dream employer/job is interested after interviewing you, pulls your credit report sees this chargeoff and asks you about it. And you say well I charged a bunch of stuff then didn%26#039;t want to pay the full amount so I MADE them settle for less because I was underage......Nice talking with you, we will be in touch except all you get is a polite we hired someone else.

Oh btw, as a minor, you don%26#039;t have legal standing to bring a suit against the credit card company to void the contract, only your parents do. What makes me think they WON%26#039;T do that?

16 with credit card debt?

a contract is voidable because you were under 18. however, you knowing commited fraud by applying for the card. i%26#039;m sure the application stated you had to be 18 years of age. so--if you went to court over it you would still have to pay the money back. you could probably get them to accept a settlement for less than you owe if you can pay the entire amount up front. otherwise-keep doing what you%26#039;re doing, you%26#039;ll have it paid off in no time. just be glad you learned this lesson young and stay away from the credit cards!

16 with credit card debt?

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16 with credit card debt?

Since you%26#039;re under 18, your parents are legally responsible for anything you do.

That also means that the credit card company can come after THEM, just because YOU were stupid.

And the cc company will win.

16 with credit card debt?

You have credit card debt, and you wan to pay it off as quickly as you can. We will assume that you are going to stop creating more debt. You have changed your ways. You also understand that paying credit card%26lt;!--balances with a consolidation loan or rolling it into a mortgage isn%26#039;t paying it off. In fact, paying a lower interest rate, but paying on the debt for many more years, usually means paying much more, not less.Okay, so you really want to be rid of that credit card debt.

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First, you have to understand that not all debt is the same. Of course you know this. Some of your cards have a higher interest rate than others.Find and budget the money to start paying down those balances. If you order pizza every week, for example, you may be spending $60 or $80 per month right there--%26gt;If you are serious about getting those debts paid, you may have to eat $4 frozen pizzas for now. Do what you have to do, and determine how much you can apply towards the debt each month.