apple financing installments default

[leymeraki.179]

my fiancee bought a macbook at apple by using apple financing installments. After 13 months she cannot pay it. can apple lock her macbook ? what are the consequences on her macbook? will apple allow it to update?
please help!

 

[ucfgrad93]

I don’t think they could lock or disable updates. They could deny warranty work. But the most likely consequence is going to be a hit on her credit report.

 

[GGJstudios]

Apple won't do anything, since Apple didn't loan you the money. The default is with the financial institution that issued the loan, which is most likely Barclay. Apple has already received full payment for the device. It's the finance company that suffers loss in a default.

 

[AustinIllini]

Right. The device is hers but she has a loan to pay off.

 

[velocityg4]

It'll destroy her credit. I suppose they can try to repossess it. More likely they'll start collection efforts, put a big ding on her credit report and start racking up late fees and interest.

What will happen to her Macbook shouldn't even be a concern. If she lost her job. At least get a job at Walmart or McDonalds. Bad credit can be disastrous.
- Home loans are hard or impossible to get and the interest rate will be very high.
- Small business loans will also be impossible to come by or have horrible interest.
- Many employers look at a credit report. Bad credit can lose her a good job.

Also depending on jurisdiction. When you get married her debts may become your debts. Definitely don't setup any joint accounts or own any property jointly. As creditors could likely go after them. You'd probably want to consult a lawyer about your risks and protecting any assets before you get married.

 

[GGJstudios]

It'll destroy her credit. I suppose they can try to repossess it.

They can't and won't try to repossess it. They would pursue the normal collection process. I assume the OP knows about the impact on credit. They were asking specifically about the impact on the MacBook.

 

[rbrian]

If she really can't pay, and you can't afford to help her, the best thing is to contact the finance company as soon as you can. They'd rather get their money over a longer period than get nothing, so it's in their interest as well as yours to work out an affordable payment plan.

You could also send a message to Tim Cook, making sure he's aware of the consequences of the price rises. I've given up on Apple, because I can't justify the expense.

 

[cardfan]

Fiancée and can’t make payments don’t go together. Run. Lol

 

[ActionableMango]

can apple lock her macbook?
what are the consequences on her macbook?
will apple allow it to update?

No.
Nothing.
Yes.

Macbook is hers. Don't worry about that.

What's going to happen is something like this (not exact so don't hold me to it):

• Barclay's 0% interest rate is predicated on never missing a payment. If she misses a payment, the interest rate will change from 0% to 15.99%, 21.99%, or 28.99%, depending on her credit rating. This is very high interest. The interest will be retroactively charged all the way back to the purchase date. That interest will be added to the next bill.
• Every month there will be a new bill that includes all prior unpaid months, plus the interest, plus a late fee for every month.
• After a few months they will ding her credit.
• They will keep this up for several months because their best bet to have their loan paid back partially or in full is to have her resume payments.
• After many months, perhaps a year or more, Barclay will give up and sell the debt for pennies on the dollar to a collection agency, ding her credit even more, and then walk away completely.
• Collections will hound her for a few months.
• After a few months, collections will start to hound her family, friends, and employer, trying to embarrass her into paying up.
• If the amount is sufficiently high, they will take it to court and have a judgement made against her. If she works, or ever works again in the future, they will use the judgement to automatically garnish her wages. The employer sees that and doesn't like that. I am guessing that the debt on a Macbook is not sufficiently high enough for this, unless she got some sort of extravagantly optioned MacBook Pro that cost $10,000+.
• After 3-10 years, depending on what state she lives in, the debt expires due to statute of limitations on debt. Collections can continue to ask her to pay it, but she no longer legally owes it. It will still be on her credit report. Any payment she makes, even one penny, resets that clock. Any agreement she makes, even verbal over the phone, to acknowledge that she owes them, resets that clock.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

Yeah. All sorts of horrible things will happen. Sell that thing ASAP, get a $350 Asus and pay the Mac off with the leftover money. When you’re in good shape again get a new Mac.

 

[GGJstudios]

Yeah. All sorts of horrible things will happen. Sell that thing ASAP, get a $350 Asus and pay the Mac off with the leftover money. When you’re in good shape again get a new Mac.

That could make things worse. You won't get full value by selling the MacBook, so it won't be enough to pay off the loan, especially after spending $350 of the proceeds on the Asus. So doing that would mean still having a loan in default, but not having the MacBook to show for it. It would be better to simply get a part time job or find other income sources to catch up on the payments or pay off the loan, keeping the MacBook.