Moral question

[Tristicus]

Do you even make $78 a month?

Actually, I do. I do, however, need a "real" job. But have fun with your assumptions.

 

[JS80]

Lol that's less than one hour of work.

 

[MAKENITO]

Lol that's less than one hour of work.

ReallyD:

I wouldnt mind your pay rate. Sigh.

 

[leckley]

Lol that's less than one hour of work.

....and another asshole comment....what else is new...

 

[sandorski]

....and another asshole comment....what else is new...

He's right though. I got chunks of Blow in my nose worth more than that!

 

[jlee]

Get a roommate.

Lol that's less than one hour of work.

Fvck I am in the wrong line of work...

 

[Exterous]

Considering how the debt ended up in my father's name, I have no legal responsibility to repay it when it would have been much easier for me to pay it off years ago. However, I feel I have a moral responsibility to pay it... and I feel I owe it to them to help them since, well... they raised me.

Yes -we know you have no legal responsibility to pay it but their your goddamn parents. They helped you (or tried to) Now help them and pay the damn loan

Then again, I tried to repay it, they wouldn't let me, so now I've built my lifestyle without that debt in consideration

As a property owner you should have a lifestyle that can take more than a sudden decrease of $78 of income - much more (not that people follow this)

 

[ch33zw1z]

I didn't read all the replies, but here's my take on it. It's technically their debt, but it was created on your account. At a better time in their lives they thought they could do it, but now it's a burden they either can't or don't want to bear. You feel both obligated and betrayed, rightfully so. IMO you should offer a compromise, such as: paying half the monthly cost. Explain to them that it's not an issue of whether or not you want to help, because you do, but it's that you have financially stretched yourself thin and it's tough to come up with $78 every month right now....so what's wrong with splitting it 50/50 for now?

edit: another IMO, you should help in some way...family takes care of family, at least that's how I was raised.

 

[highland145]

Jeff, Your title is "moral question". Do what's right. You already know what that is.

 

[JJChicken]

Pay it.

 

[tk149]

A rough calculation shows that the maximum amount of your loan was probably around $10,700. This assumes a 30-year term and an 8.00% interest rate at $78/month.

Now figure 10 years worth of payments, and that number is around $8000 or so. That really isn't all that much, and that is the maximum amount left (given the assumptions).

(Accountants, feel free to correct my math)

Just pay it, and consider it a gift to your parents. BUT, make sure that you find out the exact terms of the loan. There could be tax consequences.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

really? $78/mo.?

what if your condo association + RE taxes + insurance went up $78 a month.
you really are in NO position to purchase a condo IMO.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Are you SURE that debt isn't in your parents names, or yours?

I'd run a free credit check if you haven't, just to verify...if it is, pay it.

others have said, if $78/month is too much, you're in for a rude awakening

 

[Gooberlx2]

If you owe someone money, and they refuse the money you give them and say, "don't worry about it" what would you do? Search their financial records for the account information and secretly pay it behind their back?

I GAVE them money... they gave it back. I set up online bill payments to send them the $78/mo... 6 months after that the bank start adding the funds back to my account saying the checks were never cashed and expired so I canceled the online bill payments, and sure enough, for the next 6 months, that money was put back in my account.

By now I figured they had paid it off. The only reason they're asking me to pay it now is because it's become inconvenient for them. Is that really fair to me? I mean... if I was in the financial position that I was a year ago I'd pay it without question, but now I have a mortgage payment of my own...

I agree it's not fair for you to take criticism over it. But still, the best thing you can really do is to just take the debt and pay it. Make whatever financial changes you need to and pay it off (though I certainly wouldn't blame you for grumbling about it).

 

[hanoverphist]

$78/mo won't cause me to lose my condo, but it'll require me to make some changes. I'm not completely opposed to that, but part of me feels like I shouldn't be burdened with it since I offered to pay it when I was in a better financial position to do so... since they told me not to worry about it, I didn't. Now they're telling me to worry about it once I've gone out and acquired new debt.

And you're right... I do have too much debt... but it was either move in with them or over extend my own finances so as not to burden them any longer than I already had.

they helped you out for years. you could help them out a bit too. sacrifice for sacrifice, and im sure they wouldnt have asked if they werent in dire straits. divorce sucks, even more when money is already tight before it happens.

 

[GrumpyMan]

When I was younger $78.00 was single nights bar tab.

 

[Schfifty Five]

My parents have decided to get divorced and finances are a big issue for them. Neither of them can keep the house themselves so they'll be selling it.

Come to find out, they're still making payments on a student loan that was taken out about 10 years ago for me when I went to school the first time. I'd have paid that off long ago, but my father told me not to worry about it. Now I learn it's still not paid off, I don't even know how much is still owed and they expect me to pay it off now. I JUST moved into a new condo so I've spent a large chunk of my savings on that... now they expect me to pay for this too.

I feel a moral obligation to pay it because well, it's my debt, it just happens to be in their name because I didn't qualify for the loan right out of high school. On the other hand, I'd have taken care of that debt before acquiring this new debt if I hadn't been told not to worry about it and knew that it even still existed. Money is already tight being a homeowner for the first time, now they want me to take over the $78/mo payment on it.

So... what do I do? Scratch together the money and take over the payments or tell them, "sorry, I tried to pay it when I was in a better position to pay it, but you told me not to, now I can't afford to."

Morally, it's tough, I see your point. But life isn't fair and you gotta make sacrifices here and there. And these are you parents too, not just some random stranger who jipped you.

Financially though...Really? Only $78/mo? How can you not afford an extra $78/mo?

Unless you are really living pay check to pay check and using every penny for necessities, you're doing something wrong financially to not be able to afford another $78/mo.

 

[ModerateRepZero]

I agree that it's unfair if you offered to repay it in good faith, and they for whatever reason didn't pay for it.

What I would do is two things:

1) pay off the debt a little at a time directly. don't send it to your parents since they assured you they'd take care of it but are the reason it's not paid off

2) make it clear to them (with a contract if necessary) that in the future, if they agreed to assume any debt/loans etc. and wouldn't accept your money when given, they can't turn around and expect you to help out *again*.

 

[GundamW]

OP. Your parents are going thru tough times right now. It's better not to burden them more. You should be helping/supporting them thru the divorce.
Talk to them. See what you can do to ease the situation. Find out how much is the debt and cut your expenses to pay for it.