Ask Amy: Relationship is in receivership
Now he wants $7,000 dollars he says I owe him, from expenses we incurred on the credit card.
I don’t have any extra money, and he knows that.
Can he sue me for the money?
He told me he’ll give me until December to pay him back!
– Wondering
Dear Wondering: Your ex can try to sue you for just about any reason, but that doesn’t mean he will win. He only wins if he succeeds in intimidating you through the threat of a suit to giving him money you don’t believe you owe him.
You should seek legal advice, but based on my own research, when he gave you his credit card to use, he was actually violating his own agreement with the credit card company, which states that he is the owner of the card, and responsible for paying the balance. If he wanted to share the card, he should have added you as an “authorized user.”
If you believe that you legitimately owe him $7,000, then you should repay that amount, perhaps in installments, if you can’t afford the entire sum. If you don’t believe you owe him this amount, then you should negotiate concerning the sum you are willing to pay.
However, given his financial chicanery and the way your relationship crumbled because of it, if you do agree to pay him any sum at all, you should have a written agreement with him and keep careful records.
You were wise not to become further entangled with him.
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