Advice on disputing due to identity theft by family member

[Anonymous]

Here's the situation. 4 years ago, my cousin used my identity to get an apartment. They defaulted on the lease, as well as all utilities, and I ended up with two collections on my credit. The lesser one was only a couple hundred dollars from the gas company. I already was able to have it removed through a general cwa dispute. The big one is over $3000. It's from the apartment complex itself. Because they're family, I didn't pursue criminal charges or reporting it to the police (I know, I probably should have. But I didn't.) I'm wondering if I dispute it claiming identity theft (which it was), would I need to report it as well or can I simply dispute it using that reason without having a police report or anything similar?

[RobertEG]

Here is what usually happens when you dispute an account/debt as not yours.

The dispute ends up in the hands of the furnisher, either by referral to them by the CRA, or if you file a direct dispute, in their mail box.

They are then required to conduct a reasonable investigation.  They have documents under your name that can be used to verify the accuracy of their reporting.

They are not required to hire a private investigator to prove it was you.  Thus, it is simple for them to do a verification.

If a bald consumer assertion of "account not mine" were adequate, then anyone could get anything removed at any time.

Thus, the dispute process will not get the account/identity theft information deleted.

In recognition of the fact that the dispute process is not adequate to get identity theft info removed, congress enacted the various identity theft amendments to the FCRA, the key provision of which is new section 605B.  Under that provision, if the consumer is willing to go beyond a bald asserion of identity theft/account not mine and put their assertion into a sworn statement before a law enforcement agency, that assertion then carries criminal penalties for any knowingly false statements, and thus is acceptbble with no input from the furnisher to get the information blocked from the consumer's credit report.

No, the dispute process is not the way to handle identity theft.  You need a police report in order to elevate your assertion to a sworn statement that carries penalties for false statements.  It is likely that in filing the police report, they will inquire as to any information you have as to the theiving party, and if you have knowledge, you may be obligated to give it up.  It is a dilemma that many have faced when the thief is a family member. 

[silkysean]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Here is what usually happens when you dispute an account/debt as not yours.

The dispute ends up in the hands of the furnisher, either by referral to them by the CRA, or if you file a direct dispute, in their mail box.

They are then required to conduct a reasonable investigation.  They have documents under your name that can be used to verify the accuracy of their reporting.

They are not required to hire a private investigator to prove it was you.  Thus, it is simple for them to do a verification.

If a bald consumer assertion of "account not mine" were adequate, then anyone could get anything removed at any time.

Thus, the dispute process will not get the account/identity theft information deleted.

In recognition of the fact that the dispute process is not adequate to get identity theft info removed, congress enacted the various identity theft amendments to the FCRA, the key provision of which is new section 605B.  Under that provision, if the consumer is willing to go beyond a bald asserion of identity theft/account not mine and put their assertion into a sworn statement before a law enforcement agency, that assertion then carries criminal penalties for any knowingly false statements, and thus is acceptbble with no input from the furnisher to get the information blocked from the consumer's credit report.

No, the dispute process is not the way to handle identity theft.  You need a police report in order to elevate your assertion to a sworn statement that carries penalties for false statements.  It is likely that in filing the police report, they will inquire as to any information you have as to the theiving party, and if you have knowledge, you may be obligated to give it up.  It is a dilemma that many have faced when the thief is a family member. 

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True but police almost never actually files a police report based off your word and the Da almost never makes a case and if truly stolen it's hard to get a police report or a copy of your credit report to prove who you Are.It takes years to go thru this and get it removed.At times even in and out of court 

[RobertEG]

Yes, there are numerous instances where the officer at the police station is reluctant to take a police report based only on a consumer showing up and alleging identity theft.

They dont usually understand that the consumer is not necessarily interested in any type of investigation by the police, and only needs the report in order to gain their right to credit report exclusion of the information.  Many law enforcement personnel dont understand the need, and may be reluctant to take a report.

If that happens, the recommended process is to then make a call to the office of your state AG, and speak with one of their attorneys, who WILL understand your need for the police report.  Ask them to place a call to your local police station and instruct them to take your police report.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I have an uncle who is a police officer. If a police report is needed, maybe I can explain the situation to him and he can file a report but not go further investigating it?

[torry590]

I have read several instances here and from my own experience as well.  All police reports will ask you if you know of a suspect, you can simply say "No" they will not ask any further questions because in a lot of cases they do not know.  I have had to do this before, and no further questions were asked. 

[Anonymous]

If you file a police report and say that you don't know who stole your identity, you then put yourself in a position where you've lied to a police officer. If it ever should happen to come up and they find out that you DID and DO in fact know who did it, then you may end up in situtaion that could result in criminal charges against you. I can understand how you don't want to get a family member in trouble, but do you really want to run the risk of possibly getting slammed with a criminal offense?