topic Re: So discouraged in Relationships and Money

So discouraged

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 20:14:03 GMT

I have been working on my husband's credit so we are able to buy our new house together. I sold the house I owned before I met him and we are temporarily at my mother's while I worked on his credit. We were getting so close and last night his credit score randomly dropped 40 points. I couldn't understand how that could have happened. I pulled his report etc. Today his ex wife tells us that she used his SS number to get new cell phones for the kids without asking us, most likely explaining the drop. I'm sick to my stomach and so upset. How do I take care of this? I told her I was reporting it fraudulent. What will happen after that? Also why am I unable to see any report changes other than the drastic drop? Please help.

Re: So discouraged

GApeachy — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 20:52:46 GMT

Before turning in the ex-wife, you and dh need to agree on how to handle that situation. We're talking serious ramifications for their children's mother.....might not be the best way to handle that. But, even though she used his SS# to finance phones it does not guarantee that that purchase is why his score(s) dropped so dramatically. You will need to pull other cr's for the next couple of weeks to really get a clear picture....like CK, Exp, etc. There could be a derog that's popping up you haven't seen (yet) OR perhaps old tl's fell off his reports, etc.

Just be sure before pulling the trigger (getting ex in trouble) take some time to investigate further.

If his scores really did drop that dramatically due to her actions then I would recommend giving her an ultimatum....pay it off pronto or else.

Again though....handle this carefully so there aren't any regrets. His score dropped but yet there wasn't that purchase being reflected yet....just be aware that something not showing yesterday (derogs, etc.) could show today or a little later.

Re: So discouraged

GApeachy — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 20:41:27 GMT

Also, what score are you referring too? (what cr?) Fico or Fako?

Re: So discouraged

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 01:26:58 GMT

It's showing on all vantage 3.0 platforms right now. Myfico hasn't shown it yet but I update on 1.6 so I'm waiting for that before doing anything.

Re: So discouraged

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 01:30:29 GMT

Yes, that's the difficult position I'm in. I obviously am not going to do anything to hurt the kids. She's still their mom. Is their an option to report without pressing charges? I'm waiting for myfico to update on 1.6 before I do anything.

Re: So discouraged

GApeachy — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 03:12:15 GMT

Vantage scores are like polar opposites of ficos....wait for myFico, his scores may have even increased.

Go lock his crs..... consider it a lesson learned 👍 Next time it may be a stranger and during a time y'all are in the mortgage process.

Re: So discouraged

GApeachy — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 03:17:29 GMT

Better yet, freeze his reports. Free to do so.

Re: So discouraged

ToughFistFight — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 03:53:45 GMT

He calls the phone company and says "I didnt order these phones, close the account." Easy peasy. No police report, nothing. Its the ex-wives issue at that point.

I was in a similar situation. The phones were shipped to a completely different address then mine. I said " I didnt order these phones". I never heard from Verizon again. I put a pin number on my account and that was the end of that.

As for the devils triangle, husband, ex-wife, new wife, thats an entirely different story.

Sounds like he needs his reports frozen. That way the identity thief cant pull this crap again. Believe me, this isnt the first time and it wont be the last time. Been there done that.

Re: So discouraged

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 04:34:27 GMT

Thank you. I locked his credit with each of the 3 companies. I will wait for the FICO scores to come and see what happens with those. Thanks for all the replies. We have been watching everything so close and working hard for the increases we've gotten so this was just such a blow. We did talk to cricket wireless and they said we had to file a report to get them to remove his info and close the account but the police said we didn't have to press charges so that will probably be the way we will go if they don't take care of it for us when we go into the store tomorrow.

Thanks again.

Re: So discouraged

ToughFistFight — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 05:12:52 GMT

Ah, cricket wireless. The onus should be put back on them. They didnt check that the social didnt match the person in front of them? Terrible business practices. Anyway, Im sure it will work out for you. There is only so much you can do to avoid hitting the bumps in the road, its what you do after you hit the bump.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes, your information can help someone else down the road!

Re: So discouraged

GApeachy — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 05:26:17 GMT

@Anonymous put fraud alerts on all credit bureaus as well. It's another layer of added protection.

Update when his scores come in.

Re: So discouraged

OmarGB9 — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 03:10:35 GMT

I'm not familiar with Cricket's setup, but I used to work in selling mobile phones myself with ATT/VZW/Sprint (when it wasn't part of T-Mobile yet), and whenever someone bought phones, there was no HP/new account ever reported (unless of course you default), so I'm not sure I understand how a phone purchase ended up on a credit report?

Re: So discouraged

LawStudentCivilis — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 14:50:57 GMT

OP, I'm not in the camp of allowing or excusing toxic and/or illegal behavior because someone is "family" or familial adjacent. In fact, abusers often bank on the close/personal nature as a sure fire way to get away with said behavior leaving the aggrieved to face the consequences. This sad excuse has gone on for generations and needs to stop.

With that being said, if the mother of your spouse's children doesn't want law enforcement involved, then don't commit actions that yield such consequences. Don't set a dangerous precedent here, you don't want to encourage such illegal mistreatment in the future. I mean what incentive is there if she knows all you will do is look the other way?

Hopefully, you make the situation right for you and your spouse. You sound like you have enough on your plate, and there is no reason to let someone hinder your progress and hard work while they sew all the benefits at you and your spouse's expense.

Re: So discouraged

805orbust — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 04:17:54 GMT

@Anonymous Did you ever find out what the issue was? What was the result of the FICO score update?

Re: So discouraged

AverageJoesCredit — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 01:36:30 GMT

@OmarGB9 wrote:
I'm not familiar with Cricket's setup, but I used to work in selling mobile phones myself with ATT/VZW/Sprint (when it wasn't part of T-Mobile yet), and whenever someone bought phones, there was no HP/new account ever reported (unless of course you default), so I'm not sure I understand how a phone purchase ended up on a credit report?

Yeah i dont see phones being purchased as a reason for score drop unless a credit card was used whereas the utilization was high or it created a new account. Something else caused the score drop , the phones jyst happened to be a coincidence imho.

Re: So discouraged

ghgirll40 — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:02:32 GMT

@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
@OmarGB9 wrote:
I'm not familiar with Cricket's setup, but I used to work in selling mobile phones myself with ATT/VZW/Sprint (when it wasn't part of T-Mobile yet), and whenever someone bought phones, there was no HP/new account ever reported (unless of course you default), so I'm not sure I understand how a phone purchase ended up on a credit report?
Yeah i dont see phones being purchased as a reason for score drop unless a credit card was used whereas the utilization was high or it created a new account. Something else caused the score drop , the phones jyst happened to be a coincidence imho.

I remember reading about this a couple weeks back. Did we ever find out what *did* cause the score drop?

Re: So discouraged

lovebackwards — Sat, 09 Apr 2022 05:39:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have been working on my husband's credit so we are able to buy our new house together. I sold the house I owned before I met him and we are temporarily at my mother's while I worked on his credit. We were getting so close and last night his credit score randomly dropped 40 points. I couldn't understand how that could have happened. I pulled his report etc. Today his ex wife tells us that she used his SS number to get new cell phones for the kids without asking us, most likely explaining the drop. I'm sick to my stomach and so upset. How do I take care of this? I told her I was reporting it fraudulent. What will happen after that? Also why am I unable to see any report changes other than the drastic drop? Please help.

So sorry this happened. I hope there was a resolution to this!

Re: So discouraged

donkort — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:28:55 GMT

The OP hasn't responded in about 3 months.

I hope the situation was resolved.

It's true that cell phone accounts don't show up on credit reports. Mine never did.

If you're seeking a cell phone account, I believe they do a soft pull. They want to make sure there are no serious delinquencies, It seems to me that even people with 500's scores have no trouble getting cell phone accounts.

Re: So discouraged

dragontears — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:40:33 GMT

@donkort wrote:
The OP hasn't responded in about 3 months.

I hope the situation was resolved.

It's true that cell phone accounts don't show up on credit reports. Mine never did.

If you're seeking a cell phone account, I believe they do a soft pull. They want to make sure there are no serious delinquencies, It seems to me that even people with 500's scores have no trouble getting cell phone accounts.

Just an FYI, last time I switched phone carriers it was a HP so it can and does happen that a new phone can affect your credit score, that being said a HP won't cause a 40 point drop

Re: So discouraged

donkort — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:47:22 GMT

I guess not having a new cell phone account for about 10 years accounts for my not being "up to date."

The last time I had a new cell phone account, my FICOS were in the mid to high 600s.