Can a verbal agreement to close a credit card be binding?
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Can a verbal agreement to close a credit card be binding?
My ex-wife and I hold 2 credit cards in our joint names. n the divorce the debt was assigned to me. While paying off one card my ex-wife agreed to pay the last $2,000 of the original $14,000 if I paid the rest. I transferred the remaining balance except for $2000 to a credit card held exclusively by me. My ex-wife agreed to close the card and pay it off. I have just learned that she has put $18,000 on the card without closing it. Do I have any recourse? She also just lost her job so the bank won’t remove me from the card.
Asked on March 23, 2012 under Bankruptcy Law, Washington
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The problem with what you have written is that in reality it is the credit card company that ends up closing out one's credit card after it is advised in writing to do so. The recourse that you have is that you relied to your detriment in paying your former wife $2,000 to close out that credit card that was in your and her name. She failed to do so and she should repay you the $2,000 advanced.
One option is for her to roll this credit card debt into another credit card without your name on it.
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