I had this very same problem. However, I got it out of the way in my 20’s and 30’s after running up ~20+ K in credit cards and ~20K in student loan debt during college/graduate school.
I quickly learned the time-value of money and how to dig myself out by paying the highest rate cards first, then working my way out. It took me until my early-thirties to clear out both the habits and the debt.
Breaking the habit of adding additional debt is the key
I would advise against a “bail-out” loan. They need to work on eliminating additional charges to the cards. Once they do this, it will be easier to pay them down. If they can maintain the payments until the house is paid off, they can apply the amounts they have been paying towards mortgage to the credit cards. This only works if they stop the habit of using the cards.
A bail-out loan will not solve the underlying problem.
