A recent episode of “The Ramsey Show” took a sharp turn when a caller shared how his mother took out credit cards in his name after he and his brother bought her a home.
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Mom Living In A Home Her Sons Bought, Son Holding The Bag
The caller, 27, explained that after his divorce, he was emotionally vulnerable and agreed to co-sign loans so his mom could buy the home she was living in. He and his brother put the mortgage in their names because his mom had poor credit.
“She sucks blood off of her sons,” said Dave Ramsey after hearing the details. “She's a parasite. It's a horrible thing to say about your mother. I'm so sorry. Just an observation.”
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The caller added that his mom makes minimal income and hasn't disclosed how much she earns. Meanwhile, she continues to make minimum payments on roughly $20,000 in credit card debt, all taken out under her son’s name.
"She's paying the mortgage," the caller said, but added that he constantly worries she'll stop. "I'm just waiting for the day that I get a call that, ‘Hey, your payment's due.'"
Selling The Home To Save The Marriage
Ramsey warned the caller that if he didn't take action quickly, this financial arrangement would result in deeper personal losses.
His advice? Sell the house. Pay off all the credit cards. Then, give his mom half of whatever equity remains. “You can go set yourself up a life with that,” he suggested.
Ramsey even gave him the script for the difficult conversation: “Mom, I love you, and I’ve done more for you than I should have, and I put myself and my future family in jeopardy because of you, and you continue to misbehave with this. My bills are not being paid, you’re destroying my credit and my future. We’re selling the house. Little brother, if you don’t want to sell it, you can buy me out.”
Ramsey also made it clear that the brother, who co-owns the home, should either buy him out or step aside. “If he doesn’t want to sell the house, then it’s going to be a civil court action and the judge is going to demand that the partnership be dissolved by the selling of the house,” Ramsey said.
“We’re selling the house. I’m not asking—we’re telling you. This is what we’re doing,” Ramsey added.
“This is saving your marriage, by the way,” Ramsey’s co-host, Jade Warshaw, said. The caller had just gotten married a month earlier, and this situation could become a major wedge. “Your wife is not going to sit around and let your mom be the reason that she’s not in her new house,” Warshaw added.
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