Is this debt due to legitimate reasons like medical bills while having crappy health insurance? He lost money in a scam? Student loans? Had to take bank loan to pay a lawyer in divorce? Has to pay spousal support to his ex that is so high that he can’t manage? Has to help struggling family member? Couldn’t work full time while in college and had to go in debt being able to finish his degrees? Was a single parent and couldn’t manage raising a child without going into debt? Was laid off and couldn’t manage on unemployment? Car payments? Mortgage? Stuck with someone else’s debt? Borrowed money got business and it fell through? Borrowed money to pay immigration lawyer? Borrowed to relocate?

Just giving examples of actually some situations that people end up in. Not every debt is a huge red flag. I have some debt. Doesn’t make me a bad or unreliable person. Life happens especially if you are by yourself and have no one to bail you out

Saying that, it depends on how and why he went into debt and what led to that? Go over his credit card bills and see what was he spending on?