7 Year time limit for reporting before things fall off?

[Anonymous]

Ok here is my dilemma.  I moved to Paris many years ago for work and haven't been back to the USA.  I haven't been to the USA in years nor bothered to check my credit report in years.  I found out last year that my mother used my SSN and opened up credit cards and I had some existing credit cards open that I never used that she charged up.   I never knew about these things!  One time she did ask if I would allow her to be an authorized user on a credit card which I agreed and which she got the bill.   I admit I was naive but I was so busy with work and would have NEVER guessed she would do something like this.

Long story short... the credit card companies are saying I need to file a police report and file charges against my mother.  I simply can't do that so it looks like I'm on the hook for these things.  It's ruined the relationship with my mom.

This was several years ago.  Living in France for years I already have credit cards in France and a mortgage with a French bank so I'm not affected by what happened.  I explained this to the credit card companies and they understand but say I'm still liable and my credit will be bad in the USA.  They did however agree not to sue me for this debt and have honored that agreement. They simply wrote off this as bad debt and my credit report is totally shot.

On my credit report it says these will be reported until 2012.  Can you experts tell me if in 2012 all of these will fall off and there will be no record at all of them?  How does this work?  It just completely falls off and there is no record of them at all?   Will this cause my credit score to automatically jump up again to the level it was before??

There were huge credit card bills. Between 8 credit cards there was over $170,000 in debt!  Many credit lines I had were cancelled due to what my mother did.   I still have credit cards in France so I don't have to worry but I might return to the USA in the future and will get a mortgage so I'm concerned.

Someone please help me to understand how my credit score will be after these drop off.  It's been many years since this happened.  2012 will be 7 years.  Besides these 8 credit cards my credit was always good.  I had close to an 800 credit score when I moved and now it's down to 660.  What could I expect it to go to after all of these things drop off?

Thanks!

[JoeBJay20]

Welcome to the forums!

If the reports say the drop off date is 2012 then that should be accurate, that date should be 7-7.5 years after the date of first delinquency, or DOFD.   The report and FICO score have no memory, so once an item falls off your report, it's as though it was never there.  This is the case for both positive and derogatory tradelines.  Since you've been gone for a while, if you don't have any open positive accounts on your report, you very well could end up with nothing on your reports.  You have to have at least one account that's been open for 6 months on your report to generate a FICO score.  You very well could be starting from scratch as far as your credit is concerned.  Keep in mind that even after those negative accounts fall off your reports, you could remain blacklisted by some creditors.  

[Anonymous]

Hi Joe!

Thanks for the warm welcome.  I appreciate it.  I thought about what you are saying.  I kept open a few credit cards that I never use and won't cancel them.  I think that is what is helping my credit score.  I have 4 cards open that I have $0 balances on with decent credit limits so I'll keep them open even though I don't use them.  Hopefully that helps once these charge offs fall off my record.

Also, I had a previous mortgage and car loans that were paid off and says they will stay on my report for a while. 

Do you know anything else I should be doing to improve my score? I have no loans or mortgages besides my mortgage in Paris.   When I move back to the USA I will sell my apartment in Paris and use it towards purchasing a house.

From the sounds of things I shouldn't have a difficult time getting a mortgage?  Any opinion you can provide would be appreciated.  I have over $200,000 equity in my apartment in Paris and will use that for a house in the USA.  I don't have any credit card debt.

Thanks for your advice.

[RobertEG]

If you simply cannot dspute what another has illegally done to trash your credit, that is your call, and you must nlive with it.

From a purely objective status, I would file a police report for credit card fraud, file civil action, and dispute under FCRA 611(a).

Emotions vs reality.,

You have all the ammo to clear this up.  No one on here can advise you on whether you should ffight for your rights.

But I would!

[Anonymous]

Robert, I understand your point of view but it's a very difficult situation and telling someone to take actions that can put their family members in jail is easier to say then to do.

As horrible as what my mother did I can't take actions that could cause her to possibly go to jail.  The credit bureaus won't delete it off my record without police reports but my lawyer in the USA informs me that it could cause severe legal problems.  The relationship is already ruined but I can't take that step you are talking about.

I do appreciate your advice but until something horrific like this happens to you it's easier to say to take these types of actions than do it.  Thanks.