From the Wool-sack

• Publication year: 1998
• Pages: 35
• Citation: Vol. 27 No. 8 Pg. 35

27 Colo.Law. 35 Colorado Lawyer 1998.

1998, August, Pg. 35. From The Wool-Sack

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35

Vol. 27, No. 8, Pg. 35

The Colorado Lawyer
August 1998
Vol. 27, No. 8 [Page 35]

Departments
From The Wool-Sack
From The Wool-Sack
by Christopher R Brauchli

Having more credit than money,
Thus one goes through the world.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Claudine von Villa Bella (1776)

This column is an update on the consequences of death on a decedent's credit rating, a matter of grave concern to all faced with mortality. The topic was first addressed in 1995, when I reported on a letter of commendation a deceased client of mine received from Commercial Federal Bank, an institution that (as of this writing) has not yet been acquired by another bank, perhaps because of the lending practices that partly inspired this column

Prior to his death, my deceased client, Mr. X (not his real name), took out a mortgage that was accompanied by mortgage loan life insurance that provided that the mortgage would be paid off by the insurance should Mr. X die before it was paid off by him. He did and it did. Within a matter of days following payment of Mr. X's mortgage, I received a letter addressed to him from Commercial Federal. It began as follows: "We were very impressed with the excellent way you handled your recent Commercial Federal loan." The letter went on to advise Mr. X (not his real name, in case you've forgotten) that he was among a "select group of financially responsible individuals eligible to apply for a new Commercial Federal loan." Such a loan, he was promised, would enable him to get the things he needs most in life. As the teaser proclaimed: "Whatever your heart desires, a Commercial Federal loan can help make it happen."

In an effort to flatter the deceased Mr. X, it told him that the opportunity afforded by the letter is "reserved only for our best customers." (Whether that suggests that the bank prefers the dead to the quick, someone else may determine.) As promising as this communication was, this particular story does not, I learned earlier this year, have a happy ending

Mr. X, being dead, did not avail himself of the post-mortem credit opportunities so graciously presented by Commercial Federal, nor did he avail himself of the literally dozens of offers he received from assorted credit card companies urging him to take advantage of instant lines of credit...