My 89 year old mother had to leave her home in Florida and come live with me in Maine. Her only income is SS. It has been over one year she has been unable to pay her mortgage because her only income is Social Security. The bank has foreclosed and is now sending dunning letters and she cannot pay. Also she had a vehicle in her and my brothers name and that has been repossessed and again she is getting letters for payment from a collection agency. I have her POA What should I do next?
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The brother had her sign for a car loan and he defaulted? The car will go to auction. If the proceeds at auction cover the loan, end of problem. If they don't cover the loan, a collection agency will attempt to get the balance owed.
Sounds like he is a bum who needs a trip to the woodshed.
And like stated by igloo, keep her funds in her account totally away from yours.
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Now you do NOT want to have moms SS cominggled with your own personal finances. Accounts that have assets that are SS & other funds can be seized. Mom just needs to have her own little bank account where her SS goes into.
The debt collectors are relentless but you can likely deal with it. As you are moms POA, you can send a letter (certified mail with a return registered receipt) to each creditor that mom is advanced elderly with no assets and only SS for income which is protected from creditors. That any & all contact must be in writing at xyz address. Personally I would go and rent a mail box for mom and that is the address for all things mom from this point on. Whatever you do, do NOT sign your name, don't put a signature on any correspondence. You need to sign as "Joan Mary Smith Jones in her capacity as DPOA for Mary Jones"
Now you want to keep all paperwork on the house & especially any receipts for expenses on the house those years that mom was there. What is likely to happen is that the mortgage holder will issue a 1099-C Cancellation of Debt for whatever amount she defaulted on plus interest & fees. Now even though it is phantom income and doesn't exist in your purse, it is viewed by income by the IRS. So mom will have to file taxes that year and do a IRS form 982 insolvency exclusion. I think the 982 needs to be done by a tax professional not Turbo tax or on your own, it is a tricky form to figure out. If mom has walked on other debts, she could 1099-C's from those creditors too. Really any creditor with a written off debt over $ 600 can issue a 1099-C. You need to have her do the IRS from 982 and get her insolvent for that tax year so that IRS doesn't take any of her SS to payntowards the taxes owed on the phantom income. Also the phantom income can screw up her Medicaid qualification as it can show up as income. So it needs to be dealt with.
You know themsituation your mom finds herself in is more common than you would ever imagine. Good luck & it's great you are there for her.