KrazyKracka

Tell you what... here's the cliff's notes first!

Mom and stepdad live above their means

Stepdad gets laid off, bills pile up.

Mom and stepdad file bankruptcy.

Bank forecloses on their house because they "forgot" a payment.

Mom and stepdad ask me to apply for a $4000 personal loan to reinstate the
mortgage.

Now, a little about me:

Had credit problems in 02-03.

Busted my ass last year at work, logged over 3,000 hours at my job so I could pay off my bills, and clean my credit up.

I now have 2 bills I'm paying on, one credit card, with a $200 (roughly) balance, and one student loan, both accounts are in good standing.


Now for the fun part:

The bank, which I'm not sure which one, TOLD them over the phone, that due to the missed payment, they need $4000 to reinstate the mortgage. There was no statement sent stating that this money was owed.

From what I have been told, they have tried to make an "over the phone" payment, which has been refused, and their attorney has tried on 3 occasions to get in contact with them over this matter.

My mother approached me about getting a $4000 loan from a bank in order to pay this bill, which I told her I didn't think I could, due to my fairly recent problems that I had been in.

I asked her to show me a statement showing the money owed, which she told me she didn't have.

I then asked her to show me a returned check for one house payment, since she said they wouldn't accept anything less than the full $4000. BUT, she told me that they've been paying over the phone for sheer convenience.

I suggested that she mail a check, because if they return it, I BELIEVE that the attorney can use that in their favor, and if the bank accepts it, then they don't have to make that full $4000 payment at once. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong here.)

She told me this was a good idea, but later on, said that I should just apply for a credit line. I mentioned again about the check, which she kind of dismissed, so right now I think something is fishy.

My mother, for as long as I can remember, hasn't always been the best at money management, and lives above her means, (credit cards).

I also have discovered that her and my stepfather have been going to a casino about an hour from here up to 3 times a week! They don't tell me because I despise gambling. What really put me over the edge was when my mother went to this place a couple weeks ago by herself with nothing more than a $20 bill.

Do they not see how much that alone is costing them????

I know that if I somehow come up with this money, which she promised to repay me, something will always happen. She'll be "a little short this month", or "another bill came in", etc. etc. and I'll get stuck with it.

I'm not trying to bash my parents at all here, I love them and would like to help them, but this isn't the first time something like this has happened, albeit nowhere near the severity of this situation.


Am I a bad person for being cautious? Should I do this? I'm not sure if my credit is strong enough yet to even get that kind of money.

The whole reason being, I wanted to pay my bills so I could leave my job for one with a steady shift, so I can go back to college.


I'm very frustrated by this situation, and I feel like I'm not being told the entire truth. I'm sure I have left some details out, which I will probably remember.

What should I do?


Any questions, even personal ones, I will answer as truthfully as possible.


Thank you for reading, and I am grateful for any advice anyone can offer.