Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Massachusetts
My father opened about 4 credit cards in my name, all without substantial, unpaid debt. Before I even found out about them, he passed away (this was about 4 years after the first card was opened).
I wasn't even 18 by the time the first card was opened up, but regardless, he was able to open them in my name. Once he passed away, we found one of the cards in his bureau and that sparked an investigation on my part.
I got my free annual credit report, and became aware of the multiple accounts in my name. At the same time, I was contacted by one company that was trying to collect a debt (was under $1000 I believe). Needless to say, these people were extremely insensitive to my situation, but said I needed to file a police report against my deceased father saying that it was identity theft.
It took me about 3 months to file the police report, which I finally faxed over to that company. That company said that they believe I received financial advice, and that they can't accept the situation as fraudulent. This obviously hurt me.
I asked them to please contact me again, since they had my cell phone number, but they of course never did. I'm going to assume that at that time they realized they were beating a dead horse, they decided to sell it to a second-level debt buyer.
Now, after the first contact I had back in 2009, I had submitted a dispute when viewing my online credit report. I didn't know what I should do, or how to go about getting this off my credit, since I never even opened a card in the first place! I did what the first agency told me to do, which was get the police report and fax it to them. After they never contacted me, I thought it was over.
Just recently (February) I received a phone call from the infamous LHR, Inc., saying that they are collecting a debt of around $600 and blah blah blah...
My phone call with the representative in February seemed too good to be true. The gentleman was polite, listened to my situation, and began to verify my information. He read off my social security number to me, and then my date of birth. At that point, I told him that my DOB was incorrect and I was born 1 year later, which would have meant I couldn't have opened a card in my name as a minor. Regardless, he told me to simply scan a copy of my driver's license, and that he would contact me later about what would happen. He basically lead me to believe that all I had to do was send him my license and that would clear everything up.
Naive, I know, but just recently I received another call from LHR, Inc. that was exactly the opposite of my first experience. The representative told me they never received any correspondence since my first call with them, and then proceeded to give me amounts that I could settle the debt for. I told them that I thought the matter was over with since I sent in my driver's license. She said they never received such an email and the ridiculousness goes on...
The problem I am faced with is here: Should I contact the credit bureau's and attempt to remove the accounts as fraudulent, or is there some other process to have them removed? LHR, Inc. is claiming that they have the authority to basically keep that negative account on my report forever, which I found extremely hard to swallow/believe.
If anyone can steer me in the right direction, you would make my life balanced again. I am 22, a full-time student, and a part-time employee. Every dollar counts in my life, and I can't afford to settle a debt that wasn't mine in the first place.
Again, any help would be extremely appreciated. Thank you for reading this long-winded rant!
1 Answer from Attorneys
You may want to start with placing a fraud alert on your credit report. Each reporting agency has their own form for fraud alerts. If you do it for one, it should be applied to the others, but you should check to make sure. This will last for 90 days. Then you'll want to put an extended fraud alert put on your credit report. For that you'll want to fill out the FTC Complaint Form at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en and the FTC Affidavit at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/resources/forms/affidavit.pdf. It's unclear if you've already gone to the police, but if you haven't, once you fill out the forms, you should take them to the police.
One thing you should be aware of, is this will make it a little more difficult for your to obtain credit, as anyone extending credit to you will have actually contact you or meet with you in person before they can extend credit to you. But it will get the ball rolling on removing the items.
From there, you may want contact each the creditors and debt collectors you are aware of and send them a letter stating you were a victim of identity theft and that you want the accounts to be closed if they haven't already done so. You may want to also state that you are disputing the debts pursuant to your rights under the FCRA and FACTA. This will place the burden on them to not only report the debt as disputed, but also make any corrections necessary based on the proof you provide. For the letters to the debt collectors, you may want to include a line that states that you dispute the debt and request they stop contacting you based on your rights under the FDCPA. If all goes well, they should close the accounts and leave you alone. They may, however, try to collect through lawsuit, in which case, if you take all the necessary steps, you should have a good defense to have the cases dismissed. Unfortunately, there's no rock solid way to keep them from trying to sue.
Hope this helps, good luck to you.
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