Agency helps couple escape grip of $92,000 in credit card debt
Tarryl Jackson/Jackson (MI) Citizen Patriot
2 October 2011

Jerry and Sue Bailey did not appreciate how deep their financial troubles were until a visit to their credit union in spring of 2005.

Their loan officer’s face turned gray when she looked over their credit situation. She suggested they file for bankruptcy.

The Blackman Township couple had accumulated $92,000 in credit card debt over 13 years.

“My stomach hit the floor,” said Jerry Bailey, now 61. “It brought everything to reality. We knew we needed help at that moment.”

After praying, the couple sought help from a debt management agency. Through discipline and sacrifice, the Baileys paid off that debt in about five years.

“Bankruptcy was not an option,” Sue Bailey, 59, said. “The Bible says you pay what you owe.”

In the United States alone, there are a projected 183 million credit cardholders this year, compared to 159 million in 2000, according the U.S. Census Bureau. Outstanding credit card debt is projected to be $897 billion this year, compared to $680 billion in 2000, according to Census figures.

“People have had to resort to credit cards for living expenses,” said Ella Keathley, a housing counselor at Community Action Agency in Jackson.

“Unfortunately, it’s not just a poor thing. Everyone is suffering.”

Keathley said she works with many clients who are disputing issues on their credit reports.

Even if people are not in the position to pay off their debt, they should at least be paying attention to their credit, Keathley said.

“Don’t ignore bills that come in the mail,” she said. “You want to see what’s going on there.”

The Community Action Agency offers budget and credit counseling to anyone in Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale counties. Clients learn about making wise spending choices, credit repair and sticking to realistic financial goals.

“Now is not the time to keep up with the Joneses,” Keathley said. “The Joneses are broke, too. People are learning that the hard way.”

The Baileys met in 1991 at Grace Church, 2692 N. Dettman Road, where Jerry has been a pastor for 20 years. They each had children from previous marriages — six altogether — and got married Sept. 12, 1992.

From 1992 to 2005, the Baileys ran up bills on 17 credit cards. They paid for two weddings for their daughters, replaced the transmission in their car and made many repairs around their house.

“We didn’t have any savings to fall back on,” Jerry said. “A lot of things went on the credit card.”

Looking back, Jerry said they were in denial about their credit situation. “We didn’t check,” he said. “I didn’t do it, and I didn’t want to do it.”

Jerry said their debt counselor, Mary Haas, had them do some homework and gather up all their bills and what they owed.

She then became the mediator between the Baileys and their creditors, negotiating reduced interest rates for more affordable payments.

The couple said Haas did not sugarcoat their situation but did not belittle them, either.

“You feel kind of alone many times,” Jerry said. “She made us feel better.”

Haas set them up on a debt management program, where they agreed on a $600 weekly payment to GreenPath Debt Solutions, their debt management agency. It distributed the money to creditors each month until the debts were paid off.

“That was really hard sometimes, because life still happened and emergencies still came up,” Jerry said.

One of those emergencies was when Sue had to be out of work for five months to recover from extensive foot surgery.

“When I don’t work, I don’t get paid,” said Sue, who is a visiting home nurse for the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. “To be without a paycheck was painful.”

Haas stepped in to help, contacting creditors seeking further reductions in payment amounts. All but two agreed to reductions.

The Baileys stuck with the program through carefully budgeting their money and buying only what they needed.

Now, the couple thinks before they spend and no longer uses credit to make their purchases.

“A lot of things we think of as needs are really wants,” Jerry said. “Our debt was our teacher, and we were the students.”

Both say that they would not have made it through without God and the support of family, friends and their church.

“I think we grew in our faith through all this,” Sue said. “It’s brought us closer together.”

Now, they feel they can be better spouses, parents and grandparents to their seven grandchildren, with another on the way.

The Baileys hope their story will help others who are facing outstanding debt and feel like there is no hope.

“You don’t have to be alone,” Sue said. “You don’t have to do bankruptcy.”

“You have to be willing to sacrifice,” Jerry added. “We feel like we have our lives back.”