Mother Stole Identity Washington

[wildflower]

Okay this is a sticky situation we need advice on.

My fiancé’s mother has used his and his four siblings SSN to get credit cards, put phone bills and several other things. She is a very irresponsible person and never paid off any of what she charged. His credit is completely shot and so is his siblings’ credit.

He has know about this for years, has asked her to stop, but hasn’t actually done something about it. He has not lived with his mother or in the same state as her in over 10 years. His siblings has also not lived with her, they have been in foster care for at least the last 8 years. The youngest of the siblings is 15 and still in foster care.

One of his sisters turned 18 last month and enrolled in college. She tried to get a credit card to help her pay for things and couldn’t because her mother screwed up her credit so bad. She called a lawyer and wants to press charges against her mother. My fiancé doesn’t want to press charges; he honestly thinks his mother need psychiatric help, he believes her problems go way beyond this.

I know that it is possible to get a new SSN, I do not know what all that entails. But we want to buy a house soon. We need advice on where to start about fixing his credit problem as well as helping his sisters get their fixed. Is he liable for what his mother has done using his SSN?

I know the best start would be getting a lawyer, we don’t have the money for one at this time, but would like to get as much information as we can right now. His mother lives in Washington, and we live in NC. His sisters are in Washington too. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[Alice Dodd]

He needs to consider that if she's using his info, buying things then not paying, he's complicit in the fraud if he knows and it's in his name. He needs to straighten out this mess, which means reporting it. The Social Security Department isn't going to issue a new # without proof of someone else using the old one, which will come from reporting it.

Yeah, she's got bigger problems, but unless you're willing to have those problems and his credit problems attach to you, he needs to straighten this out before getting married. Spouses credit reports have a bad habit of getting some of the issues reported on your credit. And someday, the police might be showing up at your door.

[wildflower]

How does he go about reporting it? Where could we start? Thanks for the help

[Alice Dodd]

Start with the police department on identity theft. Then he needs to get a copy of his credit file, and inform everyone on there that isn't his account that his identity has been stolen. He'll have to say who did it.

[DrumMajorChange]

Freeze credit with credit bureaus

Contact all three-credit bureaus and place a freeze on your credit. If your credit is shot, the freeze will not hurt you anyway.

Also, your fiancé after consulting an attorney may consider placing a disclaimer with each credit that he is only responsible for debts made by him. The attorney can help him draw up an affividant stating he is only responsible for debts that are made by him.

Your fiancée' should clear up this matter because a lot of employers will not hire anyone with bad credit. Most employers will not discuss bad credit with you regardless of how good your skills and potential contribution to them maybe.