Death by Debt?

Have debt collectors ever been responsible for the death of a debtor? According to court records, at least one Tennessee man thinks the stress caused by debt collectors and their tactics led to the death of his wife. 

In 2003, his wife, a longtime sufferer  of bipolar disorder, went online and used his personal information to open new credit card accounts. She had a history of going on spending sprees as part of her illness, according to a court document, and she proceeded to use these credit cards to run up about $15,000 worth of debt.  She spent money on everything from gasoline to exotic cats.

When her husband discovered her spending, he confronted his wife, the document said. He learned that she had taken out the credit cards in his name and spent the money. The husband alerted the companies as to what happened. He told them of his wife’s illness. He informed them that he had not signed up for the cards, had not authorized them and had not made any purchases. She sought the aid of a psychiatrist.

For the next four months, one company tried to collect the debt, according to the document. During phone calls, collecting agents for the company allegedly threatened prosecution. During one phone call between the husband and a representative of the company, the court document states a company agent allegedly told him that she could have the district attorney pay a visit to the house if the debt was not paid. This statement allegedly was made even though the debt was a civil matter and could not be prosecuted criminally.

According to her psychiatrist, the wife became pre-occupied with the fear of going to prison and that it became the driving force in her path to suicide, the document said. He said without this driving fear, the wife probably would have become stabilized, in his medical opinion. She did not.  She took her own life in June 2003. 

In originally ruling against the husband, the lower court judge said there was no proof that the actions of the credit card company caused insanity or delirium in the wife, according to a court document. The appeals judge noted it was difficult from the evidence to get a clear picture into the wife’s mental state.

The husband would sue the company for wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The company claimed there were no legal bases for the claims. Both claims were dismissed by a trial court, but the latter claim was re-instated by an appeals court in 2007. The case is still in the legal system.