How to fix bad credit that’s not my fault?
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I’m 21 years old, and never had a credit card or a loan of any kind. I pulled my credit report for the first time, and was amazed to find out that there are multiple credit card defaults on it, from when I was not even 18. I then bought a credit score from myFico.com – it’s well in the low 500′s.
Clearly my bad credit is not my fault – I was not even old enough to sign anything!
I suspect it was someone in my family that took a bunch of credit card on my name, but I can’t be sure.
How can I fix my bad credit WITHOUT paying all these defaults? Or is it the only way?
Yet another identity theft case 🙁
You’re actually facing two separate and important tasks: Fixing your credit and making sure you’re not held accountable for these debts.
Paying off those debts is out of the question. Not only you shouldn’t – even if you pay them off it will do nothing towards fixing your credit. As far as defaults and collection account go – the damage is done and paying off debts doesn’t re-do the damage (See ../why-pay-off-debts for more information).
A total different issue is your liability to the debts. Unless you do something about it, you are held accountable for these debts. Collection agencies can file law suits against you, come after your car and bank account and even garnish wages.
You should start by filing an identity theft police report. There’s no getting around it. That police report is a must for both fixing your credit and avoiding collection agencies and law suits.
You’ll need to dispute every item (all defaults and all collection accounts) with each of the three major credit bureaus. Send your dispute letters via mail and include a copy of your birth certificate along with a photocopy of the police report, your driver’s license and social security card. Indicate that this was an identity theft while you were still a minor (See ../credit-report-disputes/ for more information).
Next, send letters to all the creditors and collection agencies, indicating the identity theft and include a copy of that police report.
For a complete check-list of identity theft recovery see ../how-to-report-identity-theft.
Keep in mind that even if it turns out that a family member stole your identity – still, you should be prepared to press charges. If you don’t – it will be considered as you giving permission to use your identity, and you’ll be held responsible for paying all those debts.
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