My dad stuck me with an account that went to collections. What now?

[Tazer911]

I've been meticulously rebuilding my credit after defaulting student loans several years ago. Those efforts paid off nicely, with my score rising from the high-500's all the way to 717.

Everything was coming along nicely until I received a collections email last month for a CenturyLink account that I never signed up for. The amount is for about $400. I was expecting a slight hit on my CR, but this morning I logged into MyFico to see that my score had plummeted to 672. **bleep**.

After doing some research, I found out my Dad had created a CenturyLink account in my name in the mid-to-late-2000's, then wound up never paying an outstanding balance. I'm surprised it took so long to show up on my CR report, but here we are.

It's incredibly disheartening to have this happen after making so much progress. As far as him using my name & SSN, I'm not too surprised; he's always been a flake, financially.

Anyhow, I'm not sure what to do next. My Dad has cancer and it would be destabilizing to my family to bring legal action against him. But it's unjust for me to have this hit on my credit (and be on the hook to owe $400) because of actions I never took.

Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. Feeling an little overwhelmed and helpless right now...

[myscore1]

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@Tazer911 wrote:

I've been meticulously rebuilding my credit after defaulting student loans several years ago. Those efforts paid off nicely, with my score rising from the high-500's all the way to 717.

Everything was coming along nicely until I received a collections email last month for a CenturyLink account that I never signed up for. The amount is for about $400. I was expecting a slight hit on my CR, but this morning I logged into MyFico to see that my score had plummeted to 672. **bleep**.

After doing some research, I found out my Dad had created a CenturyLink account in my name in the mid-to-late-2000's, then wound up never paying an outstanding balance. I'm surprised it took so long to show up on my CR report, but here we are.

It's incredibly disheartening to have this happen after making so much progress. As far as him using my name & SSN, I'm not too surprised; he's always been a flake, financially.

Anyhow, I'm not sure what to do next. My Dad has cancer and it would be destabilizing to my family to bring legal action against him. But it's unjust for me to have this hit on my credit (and be on the hook to owe $400) because of actions I never took.

Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. Feeling an little overwhelmed and helpless right now...

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1- Forgive your dad. He could use it, and so could you.

2- You did not create the account BUT "someone" used your identity to do so. I would dispute it on that basis. It is not your fault. You knew nothing until it showed up on your bureau. It should eventually get resolved.

3- When was the last payment made? It should be listed on your report. It may be about to fall off anyway, unless he was making payments until recently.

4- Cancer trumps stealing someone's credit indentity and causing a 45 drop in credit score. You won't get much sympathy from anybody. 

[RobertEG]

A dispute does not work when the account was created by another using your identity.

The creditor can verify the accuracy based on the documents in their possession.

That is why congress amended FCRA to create an identity theft process that removes any dispute or involvment of the creditor.

If the consumer is willing to make a sworn statement before a law enforcement agency that they never authorized or established the account, then the consumer can simply send that police report to the CRA, along with proof of identity and a statement/FTC Affidavit, and the information will be blocked from their credit report.

FCRA 605B.

If unwilling to file and obtain a police report making the sworn assertion, then a dispute wont cut it, and you will have to live with it.

[Anonymous]

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@myscore1 wrote:

4- Cancer trumps stealing someone's credit indentity

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I very strongly disagree with this statement. Sorry. There is no excuse for fraud.

You are a victim of identity theft. As Robert mentioned above, disputing it without proper procedure will not do anything. Either you use the law provided to you to address this issue or accept to live with it. There is no middle ground here. To get this removed from your reports, you will have to do what Robert has stated. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Were you a kid when this was done to you? 

One of my friend’s dads rented an apartment in his name, unfortunately in this case they had the same name, and got evicted. My friend got it removed from his report by filing a fraud claim with the Police Department but also by pointing out that he was 16 and unemployed and therefore not the "person" that filled out the application. To my knowledge he never really had to implicate his dad even though it was fairly obvious. Sorry, I don't really remember the specifics, but I would not be willing to have this on my report for 7 years out of loyalty. Have you tried talking to century link and asking them about a pay for delete? I've dealt with them once, because an overzealous sales person ran my credit without my approval (who knew they could do this without your SS#) CL removed the Inquiry from my report within three days.

I know you don't want to talk to your dad about this, but I'd be surprised if cable was the only thing your name was added to without your knowledge. Collection agencies will notoriously wait until your report is improving to try to collect.

[myscore1]

There is more to life than credit. And I respectfully disagree with all of you, including guru Robert beause you are missing my point here. Whether you do something about it or not, your collection will be eventually gone, maybe even in a couple of years. In the whole scheme of this universe of ours, your dad may be dead before the credit bureaus correct the mistake...or the cops show at his house. And you should think about how you may feel bringing additional pain to your family at a time where families usually bond together and are there to support each other. You raise that spectrum yourself, so it sounds some people in your family care about your father.

Let's not lose our perspective here in our eternal search of a perfect credit. Karma is a bitch.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@myscore1 wrote:

4- Cancer trumps stealing someone's credit indentity

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I very strongly disagree with this statement. Sorry. There is no excuse for fraud.

You are a victim of identity theft. As Robert mentioned above, disputing it without proper procedure will not do anything. Either you use the law provided to you to address this issue or accept to live with it. There is no middle ground here. To get this removed from your reports, you will have to do what Robert has stated. Good luck.

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+1...There should be no pass. Go with the advice of Robert and the others.

[Anonymous]

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@myscore1 wrote:

There is more to life than credit. And I respectfully disagree with all of you, including guru Robert beause you are missing my point here. Whether you do something about it or not, your collection will be eventually gone, maybe even in a couple of years. In the whole scheme of this universe of ours, your dad may be dead before the credit bureaus correct the mistake...or the cops show at his house. And you should think about how you may feel bringing additional pain to your family at a time where families usually bond together and are there to support each other. You raise that spectrum yourself, so it sounds some people in your family care about your father.

Let's not lose our perspective here in our eternal search of a perfect credit. Karma is a bitch.

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Actually Myscore, I very respectfully disagree with you, here. This is not a situation where the word Karma can be applied. I know it get's thrown around a lot, but Buddha was very specific in the words meaning.(note I am not a buddhest :-)) NO ONE is telling op to go after a sick parent. I for one am simply saying the same thing I'd say if someone stated they had something on their report that didn't belong to them or they didn't give permition for. This is fraud. OP did not give permission nor did he or she know about the use of his or her information. 

The true meaning of the word Karma implies intention. If OP can get out of this mess without implicating a parent, than  i'm sure we all agree that's the best way to go. The same way, I'm sure OP's parent didn't INTEND to cause harm. Based on OP's post, I can see that there is no  intent to cause harm to the parent.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE:

In telling my fiance about this post, I ended up getting some new information. My fiance works in state prisons here in Oregon and was able to give me an important data point. Apparently, this is considered to be identity theft. My fiance has a client who used a parents info ( this wasn't even a credit card) to get free services  without permision. The parents wanted to teach her a lesson and told the issuer that it wasn't authorized. The issuer, not the parents filed charges and she went to prision. The parents and the   parents unwittingly caused their daughter to have a record when they really just wanted to teach their daughter a lesson.  

While I still don't think this is an issue of Karma, I do think OP deserves to know that some States have 0 tollerance for this type of thing.

[RobertEG]

Only the OP can decide what to do.

I only address the available factual options of a dispute vs filing an indentity theft (police) report.

The dispute process does not require the creditor to "prove" that the consumer actually opened the account, and an assertion of "account not mine" is not sufficient showing in a dispute to establish inaccuracy in the reporting.  The legislative history behind the amendment of the FCRA when section 605B was added makes it clear that the intent was to address the inadequacy of the FCRA dispute process as a means to deal with identity theft.

Whether or not to invoke the identity theft process is a personal decision. 

Yes, the police will lilely ask if you know who may have used your identity, and any response you make subjects you to potential criminal prosecution if it is knowingly false, so one would be wise to make a decision prior to filing a police report as to whether they wish it investigated.