Spouse Says Loaning Money to Wife’s Family Was a ‘Bad Idea’

Some say family is supposed to take care of family, but when does it go too far?

In a post to Reddit, one user shared that they loaned money to their wife’s family, but have had difficulties getting payments back on it.

“I know lending money to family is a bad idea, especially nowadays when people boast on social media about the things they are spending their money on and we are inclined to judge. BUT at my wife’s urging, we loaned $10,000 from our line of credit to her sister when they had to fix the foundation of their house 2 years ago.” their Reddit post began.

“They couldn’t get a loan, since they were already leveraged and even with us a co-signer at our bank, they wouldn’t lend them the money. The basement repair people could have done the loan, but through a private lending company that charges ridiculous rates. The problem now is it seems we don’t get much money paid back unless we remind them and then they pay $100 for a couple of months.This barely covers the interest,” their post continued.

READ MORE: Woman Refuses to Lend Cash to Friend Who Blew First Loan

The user then goes on to say that the bank has begun to take the interest right out of their account and so they are paying the interest on the loan instead of their wife’s sister. However, the user shares that they are now out of work and so finances have become tight.

“This is becoming a strain on us, since I’m now out of work. My wife keeps putting off bugging them about paying us, like right now because it’s Christmas, but I really want to crack down on them or start insisting that they get a loan somewhere else so it’s out of our hair,” they said.

The spouse then shared that the other family just bought a “one-year old SUV” and that they have “decent income,” but not “great.”

“If we paid the interest on the line of credit, the bank won’t take it out of our account, but I feel like this is just enabling their behaviour. OTOH better put the money on the loan than have the bank take it and we still go nowhere. I really want to get a plan from them on how they will pay us back, or have them go get a loan on their own. I would offer them help managing their money better, but my wife is concerned this will affect the relationship with her sister,” their post read before asking if they are in the wrong in this situation.

“NTA. If there wasn’t a plan in place at the beginning, there is no time like the present,” one user commented.

“NTA. They aren’t going to pay it back unless you’re noisy about it,” read another comment.

“NTA. Your in laws are TAs for not paying back the money they owe,” someone else said.