Help with Multiple COs and 1 Collections

[Anonymous]

Ok so back in 2013 I got my identity stolen by an old roommate. I shredded 4 credit cards (Cap1, OldNavy, JCP, USBank) and was in the process of paying off my wedding ring with my (now) husband from Zales/Genesis. Long story short, my roommate stole a bunch of our mail and was able to request to be put on as an authorized user for all of my cards and started charging the crap out of them and got a hold of my genesis account number and bought herself about $1000 worth of jewelery. Once I realized what was happening, our roommate was long gone and (obviously) left no forwarding address. So I was pretty much screwed. After trying to dispute the charges and filing a police report it pretty much ended with me still being on the hook for her shopping spree. I was pissed and didn't really understand how credit worked (still trying to figure it out a bit) and I just left everything on my report to rot.

Flash forward to now:

USBank - Went to Portfolio recovery, paid it off last year because they hounded the crap out of me.

JCP - I have no idea, because nothing is being reported and the tradeline is gone from all 3 CRs.

Zales/Genesis ~ $1,800 CO

Old Navy ~ $600 CO

Cap 1 ~ $1,000 in collections

My credit scores are definitely suffering (Low 600s) and I know that these aren't like huge amounts or anything, but I really don't want to pay for what was clearly fraudulent purchases. I really don't know what to do now in the process and need some guidance as what to do. Anybody have any suggestions?

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ok so back in 2013 I got my identity stolen by an old roommate. I shredded 4 credit cards (Cap1, OldNavy, JCP, USBank) and was in the process of paying off my wedding ring with my (now) husband from Zales/Genesis. Long story short, my roommate stole a bunch of our mail and was able to request to be put on as an authorized user for all of my cards and started charging the crap out of them and got a hold of my genesis account number and bought herself about $1000 worth of jewelery. Once I realized what was happening, our roommate was long gone and (obviously) left no forwarding address. So I was pretty much screwed. After trying to dispute the charges and filing a police report it pretty much ended with me still being on the hook for her shopping spree. I was pissed and didn't really understand how credit worked (still trying to figure it out a bit) and I just left everything on my report to rot.

Flash forward to now:

USBank - Went to Portfolio recovery, paid it off last year because they hounded the crap out of me.

JCP - I have no idea, because nothing is being reported and the tradeline is gone from all 3 CRs.

Zales/Genesis ~ $1,800 CO

Old Navy ~ $600 CO

Cap 1 ~ $1,000 in collections

My credit scores are definitely suffering (Low 600s) and I know that these aren't like huge amounts or anything, but I really don't want to pay for what was clearly fraudulent purchases. I really don't know what to do now in the process and need some guidance as what to do. Anybody have any suggestions?

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There really isn't anything you can do about COs and collections if you're not going to pay, other than wait till they drop off. 

That will happen around 7 years after the first delinquency status (30 days late). 

Have you provided CRAs with a copy of police report? 

You may want to read this and see if any of it is applicable to you. I am not sure if anything can be done 6 years later, but it might be worth a try  

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/Victim-of-Identity-Theft-What-To-Do-to-Protect-Yourself/m-p/2059499#M172755

Good luck! 

[Anonymous]

I did send the police report to all 3 CRAs and for a period of time I even had a freeze on my credit, but nothing ever came of it. To be honest, I was really naive to think that this would just work itself out. 

I want them off my report and at this point if the only way to do that is to pay, I guess I have no other recourse.

Would I be better off trying to do a PFD or just trying to settle for the least amount possible?

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I did send the police report to all 3 CRAs and for a period of time I even had a freeze on my credit, but nothing ever came of it. To be honest, I was really naive to think that this would just work itself out. 

I want them off my report and at this point if the only way to do that is to pay, I guess I have no other recourse.

Would I be better off trying to do a PFD or just trying to settle for the least amount possible?

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PFD would be preferable scoring wise, but settling would do, because they would stop reporting and no more calls, letters etc. 

With that said, I am deeply uncomfortable advising you to pay and be victimized for the second time. I don't think that's right. 

Due to the legalities involved with your case, I am hoping that at some point @RobertEG  sees your question. 

Maybe he'll have an opion/advice what your next step should be. 

[gdale6]

I would suggest a complaint to the CFPB that these accounts were a result of ID theft and the CRA(s) refused to exclude them even when you sent them the appropriate paperwork. I would attach copy of such when you file the complaint. Welcome to the board

[RobertEG]

The identity theft process under the FCRA provides for the block of any information from continued inclusion in your credit report if you provide the CRA with a police report attesting that you never authorized the account or transactions that now reflected in information included in your credit report.

Did you, when sending the copy of the police report to the CRA, specifically cite FCRA 605B and request block of the information identified in your police report as having resulted from identity theft?

If so, did the CRA then offically deny the requested block, and what reason did they provide?

[Anonymous]

If Portfolio Recovery is still showing their tradeline after you settled the debt, call them and ask them to delete it. That is their policy.