Can I transfer my brother’s debt on my 0 percent card?
by Felixx on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 | 6 Comments
I know my brother will pay me - that's not the issue. I just want to know if it's possible to transfer some of his debt to my credit card? Which has a 0 percent on balance transfers for a couple years. Can I do that?
The short answer is YES, MAYBE....
Yes it can be done but if he has a chase card and you have a chase card, then the answer is NO.....
And it is not just chase....I think that all of the credit cards have a stipulation that the transfer cannot come from another one of THEIR products (they already have ya at better terms so why should the bother allowing you to transfer and screw them out of the higher interest rate that they had tied you into)
Check on that as my only real evidence of this is the three transfers that i have done so I do admit that my knowledge on the subject is limited.
I am concerned however that you were talking about transfers for a couple of years....
The longest that I have seen the 0% rate is for ONE year.....
if you are late or if you miss a payment, that interest rate defaults immediately to 22% or something equally vile.
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I get it that this is your brother but could you have him sign something for you in case he gets amnesia after the transfer.
(you can tell him your credit card company requires it...you might not need it but it would be better to have it than to not have it)...This kind of foresight will make sure that the two of you stay close.....
also, this will be pointless to 'bail him out' unless he (your brother) cuts up the offending card (or gives it to you) so that you arent doing this kind of favor for the rest of your life.
Read on here how many people take out HELOC (home equity loans) to clean up their credit only to find a way to charge up the same cards all over again!
Further, make sure that you have at least one months expenses (preferably from him) for YOUR card set aside each month so that even if he is late paying YOU, you can still make that payment on time.
Lastly, I am not sure how much debt he has thus there is no way to speculate how this will effect your credit BUT
If your limit on this card is (lets say) 10k and you transfer 8k. Your credit rating will go down slightly (or maybe quite a bit depending on your other debts)
Not a major deal unless YOU have a major purchase (house car) in the near future.
This transfer might lessen the amount that you could qualify for.
But again to answer your question YES you can do this!
(I hope your brother knows how lucky he is to have you.....when I first graduated from college, I needed a cosigner for my car....my mom agreed to do it and the guy at the dealership tried to warn her NOT to do this... he told her that he would NOT even cosign for HIS own mother)
I guess I knew how serious cosigning was but HE really drove it home for me. I was not the case that he was trying to get me to pay a higher interest rate...if I did not have her I was NOT getting the car at all.
I say that because what you are doing is BIGGER than that.
IF I had defaulted on that car loan my mother could have ducked and dodged the bill (maybe filed bankruptcy or whatever.....YOU WONT BE ABLE TO DO THIS because once you transfer it this debt becomes YOURS exclusively)
A lot of balance transfers will give you the ability to put the funds into your checking account. Some checks or offers require your name to be on the account.
Just give him the cash and let him pay you back. If you don't have the cash, you should not make the loan. Just a sidenote.
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BAD IDEA. Taking on your brothers debt is not something you should do. It can ruin your whole relationship with him if he ends up not paying, not to mention your credit. Also, 0% credit cards are tricky. If you do not pay off the balance in the time the 0% is allowed, you are charged interest on the WHOLE amount, no matter how much you have paid off on it. Stay away from it no matter how much you believe in your brother and his ability to pay you back.
You would have to add your brother as an approved owner of the card, and then maybe they would let him transfer the debt.
BTW, I think this is a bad idea - because if something happens to your brother (even something like a car accident or something beyond his control), you are now legally responsible. I don't believe in mixing money and family - too many tragedies and horror stories.
Yes you can if it is a credit card debt. If it is other types of debt it may actually be considered a Cash Advance which is not the same as a balance transfer. In this case you need to talk to the Credit Card company and find out for sure.
But it is a very bad idea, because you will be responsible for the debt if he does not pay. But you say.....
"I know my brother will pay me - that's not the issue"
If you search this site you will see dozens of people who thought the same as you but are not stuck for debt because the other person actually did not pay...Just something to think about.
I am almost positive that you CAN. Call the customer service number on the back of the card and talk to a customer service specialist. Most of the time, when you transfer a balance, all they require is that you give them the account number of the account you wish to transfer and some other basic information. It isn't against the law to pay for something for someone, just make sure your brother is there with you...in case they need his social security number, or other personal information that you may not know.