Five Signs That You May Be At Credit Card Default Risk

June 8th, 2010 by Reed Allmand

1. You pay the minimum payment on your credit card.  Paying the minimum payment requirement on your credit card may be a sure sign that you are at credit card default risk especially if you can’t afford to pay more than your credit card’s minimum payment.
2. You use one credit card to pay the minimum payment on another.  You are probably on the edge of default if you are using one credit card to pay the other.  Some debtors at financial risk, take out cash advances on one credit card to pay the minimum payment on another.  If you are doing this you are probably at risk of default and need to seriously consider filing bankruptcy.
3. You are applying for more credit cards while carrying high balances on the ones you have. Many troubled debtors take out an excessive number of credit cards because they are literally living on debt and running out of cash on their other credit cards.  If that sounds like you, you are probably at risk of credit card default. 
4. You are borrowing money from family and friends just so you can keep your credit card out of default.  Even if your friends and family are willing to loan you money in the short-term eventually they will stop and you will probably default on your credit card. 
5. You are paying down your credit card only to max it out again. A lot of troubled debtors do this when they are dependent on their credit cards to pay for basic life expenses such as food and shelter.  But we are being self-deceptive if we believe that just because we are paying off the balance right before we max it out again that we are not at risk for default.  Any emergency or a sudden job loss could cause the debtor to miss payments and eventually default on their credit card.