Mom takes out a credit card in her daughter's name, refuses to pay the $500 balance she racked up that was due September 1st: 'She wanted to build a payment history.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Oct 4, 2026 5:15 PM EDT

Why would she take out a card in her daughter's name and not pay it off?

It's wild to me that you can open a credit card for someone under 18. A minor shouldn't be able to borrow money from the bank like that, because they don't fully understand the consequences of swiping plastic. Because minors can get credit cards, the inevitable happens. Their parents take out credit cards in their names once their credit gets so bad that they can't get approved for any new credit cards. In any just society, it would be illegal to put your 3-year-old's name on a credit card and use it to pay the gas bill, but we do not live in a just society. In this society, banks want you to rack up as much credit card debt as possible, because that means more money for them! They will give a credit card to nearly everyone who breathes, even a 6-month-old baby who couldn't possibly use it responsibly on their own. 

Some parents take out credit cards in their child's name and use them to build their child's credit. Although that can help build a higher credit score later in life, it can ruin a child's financial life if done improperly. If they put a bunch of charges on a card in their kid's name and forget to pay it off, their kid could be barred from getting their own apartment, even though their credit score isn't their fault. 

The girl in this story is just getting started in life, and her mom is already trying to clip her wings. Luckily, she found out that her mom took out a credit card in her name and was able to nip it in the bud before it got even more out of hand than it already was. 

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  • A woman holding a cell phone and a credit card
    via Adeniji Abdullahi A

    A teenager with a credit card that her mom took out in her name.

    Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events.

  • My mom gave me a maxed out credit card under my name and has already missed a payment. What do I do?

    Long story short, before i moved into college, my mom surprised me with a credit card. It was a Capital One Savor card for students. I logged into the app and i noticed that my balance was d in near maxed out and i only had 17 cents of (the limit is credit left
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  • $500) She clarified by saying that the reason why she maxed it out is because she wanted to build a "payment history" or sum sh. She promised to pay back the balance before the due date now and then on since I won't be working in college, or at least immediately to pay back
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  • the balance... Well, the payment was due September 1, and she missed it. I texted her about it and she promised the same thing, but I don't trust her at all. I have already incurred $11 in interest on my card, and the minimum
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  • payment has increased to $65 instead of $25. If she missed the October 1st payment, the bank will send it the credit bureau and my credit score will be f ed before i even have the ability to fix it.
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  • I genuinely do not know what to do in this situation. I am very distressed and betrayed by my mother. It is hard to find a job on campus, so I don't know if i'll even have the money to pay everything back before October 1st. I cannot imagine setting your own kid up for
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  • financial failure like this considering I come from a poor family. I can't close the account with a balance like that.. what do i do guys? i'm feeling very depr sed from this.
    via u/Select-Ad7453
  • Laniidae Well, this is technically fraud. She signed up you for a CC and was "trying to build your credit"? Sounds like you need to run a credit report and make sure she doesn't have more items in your name.
    via u/Laniidae_
  • Bobzyouruncle More like signed up to tank their credit.
    via u/Bobzyouruncle
  • Laniidae I had a similar-ish situation with my mom. She told me she wanted me to pay bills with my CC to "build my credit". I'd put them on my card and then not be paid back. Sometimes parents don't want you to succeed because it brings you out from under their control. It sounds like OP's mom might be of a similar vein.
    via u/Laniidae_
  • sybrwookie Or sometimes they don't even care enough about their kids or how they're hurting them. All they care about is themselves. As an adult, my mom stole a few thousand dollars from me and when confronted about it, it never even dawned on her to even offer to pay me back. She got money from me, she won, I lost. In order for her to consider anything else would require her to think of anything other than herself for even a moment.
    via u/sybrwookie
  • ktempo If your mom doesn't want to pay the card, I'd call capital one and tell them your mom signed you up for a credit card without your consent, let her deal with it
    via u/ktempo
  • JK_NC Op will probably need a police report accusing mom of identity theft else bank won't care.
    via u/JK_NC
  • MsMarji Put a Credit Freeze on all your credit reports & keep a credit freeze on all your credit reports. NOTHING can be seen about your credit rating or opened in your name.
    via u/MsMarji
  • HammyxHammy Your mom couldn't even get herself approved for $500 more in credit, ain't no way she's paying you back.
    via u/HammyxHammy
  • Select-Ad7453 OP Hey. I checked annual credit report and the account is indeed under my name. nothing else has been opened other than my federal loans I, myself took on . i will be following the steps you all have told me. Thanks for the advice, this is a really rough time for me
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  • UPDATE

    mom paid off the entire balance before the deadline. I closed the account and froze my credit. thanks for the advice!
    via u/Select-Ad7453

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credit cards credit card bad parenting bad parents parenting fraud money Parenting Fail Parenting FAILS
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