How do I handle creditors now that mom has been admitted to a dementia care center?

Since your mother has no assets, it is only the income that is an issue. Does it belong to the past debtors or to the nursing home? In either case, once the dust settles, it will not be "available" to your mother, and thus will not affect her Medicaid coverage.

The website of the FTC (Federal Trad Commission) notes the following: "The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to collect from you.

Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect them."
You may want to read the rest of their advice, here:
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

It's important to avoid a lawsuit, since even if you are in the right, you could wind up having to hire a lawyer at great expense just to defend yourself. Thus, I suggest you contact the debtor organization to explain the situation and try to work it out.

I am going through the very exact same thing. Same set of circumstances right down to the same income. My dad is in a nursing home, we are expecting him to pass away at any time now. When the unpaid bills began to come in I called them (dad did not have much debt) and explained the situation to them. That I was his daughter, that he was in a nursing home, that he was on hospice, and that he is close to death. They all said the same thing, "Thank you for calling, we'll notate the account." But the calls continued and not only that but they used MY PHONE NUMBER to call from then on because I had used my cell phone to call them! I can't change my phone number, I've had this # for years and I'm not willing to do that. I've talked with them all several times explaining the situation yet the calls continue. Six, seven, sometimes eight times a day! I've suggested that they check their records where they will see that my dad is in fact 80 years old, that he's not hiding from his creditors, that he has no idea that he even has creditors anymore! They tell me they'll notate the account yet it never stops. Finally I just ended up blocking all unknown phone numbers on my phone. I can see if they've called if I look at my "Logs" but otherwise I have no idea they're calling. Once my dad has died I will begin to answer the phone again.

I'm not on any of my dad's debts and I remind these vultures that I don't have to speak to them at all but I do because my dad's not trying to hide. In good faith I made the decision to let everyone know what was going on. Half of them don't speak good English and have no idea how to pronounce much less spell "hospice".

I used to work for the collectin agnecy for American Express. It was miserable work but that's not my point. My point is that we'd get 'dropped' calls right on our phone. The account would pop up on our monitor and before we even had a chance to even scan the information the phone would be ringing. We were instructed never to leave a message because then we could call every hour if we wanted to as long as we didn't leave a message. We also had a skiptracer and she would find the "debtor's" neighbor's address and we'd have to call the neighbor!!! We'd instruct the neighbor to run across the street and put a note on the door of the 'debtror.' It was awful and I hated that job. This was about 16 years ago and the night I quit I threw my headset at my boss and stormed out. We were instructed to break the law, the Fair Debt Collection Act or whatever it was (it's in that article at the top) and we were encouraged to threaten legal action even though we had absolutely no legal recourse but we'd tell someone that if they didn't pay up we'd kick their account to the legal dept. (we had no legal department). So knowing how this stuff works allows me to take it less seriously but it is a nuisance. Once our accounts got old we stopped working them because we knew there was no money in them.

Try not to use your personal phone when talking to them because they will begin to call that number. Block the incoming numbers. One creditor can have numerous phone numbers so make sure you get them all. Just tell the creditors once. I've tried telling them numerous times and it does not make one bit of difference. And try not to let it get to you. Talking to supervisors never helped me, they just kept on calling. And if they're calling on a phone number that has nothing to do with your mom (like them calling my cell) tell them do not call this number again. In theory they're supposed to stop but that hasn't been my experience. I've also been instructed by my dad's collectors to fax them my POA but I have refused. My dad's accounts have nothing to do with me and I don't want my name anywhere near any of this stuff. I don't want to be involved in the slightest. It's not my debt. It's not my problem.

Anybody can sue anybody else for just about anything. That doesn't mean they'll win, or even if they win they'll get anything for their trouble.

They probably are doing this because that is what their computers are programmed to do. Perhaps if you wrote them a letter explaining the situation they wouldn't waste their time. But if they continue to, I'd just ignore them.

i shift the blame. i tell em they should have had better sense than to loan me money to begin with.

My husband has quite a friendly relationship with our creditor for Children's Hospital. They call about once a month and he asks -is it that time again, Larry? Will 50 bucks do? And Larry says it will. But Children's Hospital is kind of nice about money owed. Volkswagen , not so much.

Poaformon, the only thing they may be able to do is sue if you get any inheritance. Can they sue you if you get life insurance is what I would want to know. I don't think so, though but not sure.

A friend of mine had a husband whom she was separated from and he actually committed suicide. He owed money to those darn Payday loan places and they hounded my poor friend. She was grieving immensely as she was the one who found him and she felt very guilty. I do believe that she did not have to pay though but they were just terrible to her even though they knew the circumstances.

no, no, and no.. from what I read, your asking if you are responsible for your mothers debts. you are her POA, and all her monies got to the nursing home.... Im guessing she gets Social security and its all bieng spent on the nursing home ,expept for monthly spending..you are not responsible for her finances, unless you are also on the loan....you are not obligated to repay the loan on her behalf, you do not have to get a lawyer.. when they call again , inform them that is harassment, you want their name, ph number, and supervisors name, and if they call again ,contact the better business bureau..change your ph number, or block thier call...

@ Jean Gibbs, there is no such thing as ignoring them (and hoping they go away). Even though poamom is not responsible for her Mom's debts, that does not mean creditors cannot sue and cost her thousands of dollars in attorney fees. I worked in law firms for 25 years, and it is common for creditors and large corporations others to keep up the barrage of threats until you give in.