My credit score is 496 and i’m only 18 years old.
She basically put 3 credit cards on my account, and let them one of them become delinquent and horribly messed up my score. I have no car note, no bills or anything. Only thing is a phone bill in my name that she “pays” (always late on payments or making payment arrangements when she promised me she would pay it on time.) When i first noticed my credit score was low, i asked her about it and she told me that was normal for ppl starting out with new credit. First lie. Then she said a delinquent account doesn’t stay for 7 years. Second lie. Immediate anger when i questioned her then i threatened to call my aunt, to get her opinion on this and she snatched the phone out my hand.
We got into a screaming match in the car and i told her to go fuck herself. She kept telling me she couldn’t get in trouble bc she opened these accounts when i freshly turned 18, and “talked” to me about it. The only talk we had was when i discovered a card put in my name in the mail, and she said she wouldn’t do it again. I never gave her permission. She also assured me everyone’s credit score starts out that low. She called me a bitch, then drove me to the police station after i begged , called me while i was in there asking if i needed a ride back, then questioned me what they said. She really is the worst. She has no empathy in regards to this AND i had to drop out of college bc she didn’t pay the tuition like she said & ended up putting herself in 16k debt. She also told me that a delinquent account doesn’t stay on your credit report for 7 years..which it does. But guess what? Can’t even apply for a new college bc they need my highschool transcripts since i didn’t complete a whole year at my old university, and she owes a balance of 2000 dollars from my highschool. She keeps screwing me over with her financial decisions. i’m so tired of it.
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You could end up in federal prison if she is doing your taxes
>>>She kept telling me she couldn’t get in trouble bc she opened these accounts when i freshly turned 18, and “talked” to me about it.
She opened these accounts by signing on your behalf….aka fraud. You could be 30 and it wouldn’t change that it’s still fraud.
File a police report. Pull your credit bureau and call each trade line you don’t recognize/didn’t sign with and inform them of the fraud and provide the file number.
Put an alert on your credit bureau. It requires future businesses to contact prior to issuing credit (if they do anyway then it’s easier to point to their own failed processes as the cause for their need to write off the debt).
Whether she “gets in trouble” depends on the prosecutor (unless you sue her). But she may be right that it’s not likely something they will pursue as they may have more pressing cases.
You need to dispute the entries on your credit report with all three credit reporting agencies. Also you need to lock your credit so that she cannot do this again. Call all three credit card companies and tell them you did not open the accounts. She will keep making charges if you don’t.
Give her 30 days to take the phone bill out of your name. If she doesn’t do it, close the account.
You can start building your credit score by getting a credit card in your name and paying it on time. Since your mom has destroyed your credit, you will probably have to get a secured credit card.
Do not let her take out student loans in your name. She will not pay them back.
Please! Please please please follow the instructions in this comment about identity fraud and how to report it. If you ever want to rent or buy something, you NEED good credit. It’ll take years to rebuild if you don’t contest it.
If she did it before you were 18, it’s easy to fix. It’s harder bht still doable to fix if she did it after you were 18.
FICO scores are the access gate to so many BASIC things in life. You need to protect yours now.
Step1 = Freeze your credit. This will prevent her (or anyone else) from applying for credit as you. You can always lift the freeze in the future, when you need your credit yourself. Go here to see how to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report | USAGov
Step 2 = What everyone else is saying: File a police report, and report all existing activity as fraud to both the lenders/vendors/credit card companies and also to all three credit reporting agencies (see step 1 for who those agencies are, and how to contact them).
What your Mother did is both ethically and legally wrong. It will also hurt you and your future life for many years to come. It’s right that you protect yourself now.
After all that: Does your Mom have some kind of problem (there are many!) that essentially has her stealing from you (and your future life / family / kids)? Or is she under so much financial pressure that she needs to downsize or needs you to maybe get a PT job to kick in?
So you either take the hit financially or report her for fraud.
Good luck.
You were WRONGED
Your mom is a jackass. Follow the directions outlined here by others to report the fraud and clear your credit reports. That also will close the accounts she opened in your name and let you start fresh, without her debit chained around your neck. When you can get back in college, most schools have free counseling services. You’ll need some help sorting through the fact that your mom sees you as a thing to be used rather than a child to be cherished and supported.
File a police report. Lock your credit. Once you have a police report call the credit bureaus and give them the report details so they have it on file to flag the fraudulent activity. Don’t let her screw your future. She’s done this to herself. This is identity theft and is HIGHLY ILLEGAL. Don’t forget to find a lawyer. Many will work with younger clients pro bono.
If you have younger siblings, lock their credit.
You need to make a police report. She, likely, won’t be prosecuted. If you don’t, you will be paying for this for YEARS. It will cause you SO many problems. Renting? Nah. You can’t do that. Purchase a car? Nah. Not without significant interest.
Thaaaaaats credit fraud!
Rock and a hard place there kid, that’s where you are right now. You have 3 options:
•Accept that this is just how it is and do nothing about it, living in fear that momma will do it again
now that you proved there are no consequences
•Hope mom pays things off, which no she won’t because again no consequences
•File a police report, fixing your credit and possibly sending mom to jail.
Sucks dude but rip the band aid off, those are your options. Yes you have to file with the cops, credit bureau will only remove stuff if you have made a firm, legal type statement that YOU are the victim of fraud. No there are not other ways, if there were every parent would open a card in their kids name and commit fraud.
You’re 18, not the shit you want to deal with but here we are. You got about 1-3 months before it’s assumed the charges are legit, clocks ticking. Assuming you live at home, and that home goes away if Mom suffers consequences. Sucks dude, I hope you don’t mind joining the Army because that might be where you are 6 months from now
Please report her to the police.
Ooof been here. When I confronted my nmom about stealing my identity and opening credit cards in my name, she at first acted like she was sorry, then it switched to an attack that I “only care about money.”
At the time I did not press charges but I do remember having the police come to my apartment (I can’t remember why they came to me, I’m guessing I called to ask about filing a report and they sent someone out…it was a really long time ago and there have been multiple
Incidents with my nmom over the years so I could be mixing up incidents – the point is that you can file a report and start a paper trail without pressing charges).
You need to make a police report, refute the charges on the cards, and shut them down. Lock your credit if you can.