any attorneys or credit experts in the house

[movie_girl99]

one of our neighbors passed away on Christmas eve. He was a 47 year old alcoholic and left behind 21 & 19 year old sons as well as his 79 yr old mother.The problem is, his older son shares his same first and last name. The deceased credit debt is now showing up on the eldest sons credit to the tune of 20 grand. The son has called the credit reporting companies and is getting the run around even though they do not have the same SS#. Is there anyone else that he can call to get this taken off of his credit? He had really good credit before this happened. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Ioo]

1. Really?

ALl the credit files are based on your SSN, the only way this would happen is if the father was using the same SSN.

All they need to do is call the card holder and ask if the SSN on the account is in <HIS SSN> if the aswer is no, then he can ask to take it up with the estate, not him...

EDIT: Did he assume the debt when the will was probated?

[shain from kane]

2. Some children have learned after many years that a parent

may have borrowed his child's social security number to obtain credit.

[Midlodemocrat]

3. It happened to us, as well.

My FIL and husband share the same name and the Eye care institute that we took my FIL to filed the insurance claim under my husband's name. Same name, different middle initial. Well, of course, Medicare kicked it back and we can't seem to get it resolved.

Major pain in the ass.

[don954]

4. no its not, they often do name matching

i have the same problem with my dad. Im a Jr... The solution is to file an official dispute and put in the notes the reason for the mix up. If you have copies of both persons IDs it is helpful too.
You would be amazed at the crap the credit companies do..

If you need a lawyer to help, i have used Lexington Law with sucess.

[movie_girl99]

9. yes really

it's as if the creditors did a name search and saw the name and dumped it all on him.

[leftyladyfrommo]

10. This happens a lot if people have the same name.

The credit agency just has to do a manual report just using the correct social security number. They can clean it up. Just costs a little more because of the extra work.

I saw this all the time when I was doing mortgage loans.

[warrens]

11. If they can't find the name under the SS they have

They'll go for the name at the address they have. It is not by SS #; it's by a combination of identifiers.

[MsUnderstood]

5. maybe calling is not the solution

Okay to dispute a record on your credit report you need to do it in writing (or online).


Here is what he has to do:

1) Order each credit report at that site of that credit agency.
2) Dispute each item saying that the responsible party is not him and force the credit lender to prove that it is him (this is so easy online).
3) The lenders (not the credit agency) have 30 days to prove they are right. If they cannot prove it is the son, then they have to remove the record.

Meanwhile he needs to contact the lenders who are defaming him and raise a stink with the supervisors. They cannot put the SSN charges of one person onto the SSN charges of another.

credit agencies are just data wharehouses. The real person to work with would be the lenders who are assigning dad's credit activity to the son.

[Roland99]

6. Do not call the credit companies. Send letters CMRR with proof of ID.

Photocopy of Driver's License as well as photocopy of Soc. Sec. card and mail letters to each Credit Reporting Agency (CRA): Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Also, depending on the state, it may be CSC Credit Services that handles the Equifax reporting. Go to each website to get their contact info.

Put in the letter the account #s (as much as possible) of each account that belongs to the father.

Dispute those accounts as "not mine".

And, send those letters CMRRR (Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested) and keep the green card when it returns as proof they received it.

For more info and more help, you can consider posting at http://www.creditboards.com

[Gormy Cuss]

7. The son must follow the FCRA steps outlined for correcting errors.

First and foremost, he must dispute the credit errors in writing to both the credit reporting companies and the creditors. Calling is a waste of time. Every single time he send a dispute letter he must include references that differentiate him from his father, including both SSNs, a copy of his father's death certificate, when the debt was incurred and how old he was at the time. The death certificate is key to resolving this. He should acquire a stack of them pronto (must be originals from the local or state agency, not photocopies.) He should photocopy the letters he send for his own record.

In my extended family we had a similar situation where Senior was still living which made it tougher.and I finally broke the bottleneck with one credit card company by pointing out that junior was 12 when the debt was incurred and if they made a practice of issuing credit to unemployed grade schoolers then it's no wonder they have bad debts.

The question about whether the debts were assumed through probate is a good one but I would image the mother and younger brother would also have credit errors if that were the case -- there I don't know.


Edited to add FTC link:http://www.ftc.gov/credit/

[Weembo]

8. He needs to contact each of the creditors, in writing,

by certified mail, return receipt requested. He should list the account numbers, the social security number for his father, and his social security number. He should explain to each creditor the apparent confusion and then ask each creditor to provide him with written proof of their authority for attributing his father's debts to him. Place a 30 day time limit for response on each letter. Make a copy of the letter and attach the return receipt (the green card) when it comes back. If the creditor refuses to act or acknowledge his demand, he should hire an attorney to pursue claims for credit disparagement and unfair debt collection practices. Several folks woul happy to take the case. If he still has problems finding an attorney, each good sized town and city usually has a bar association that can point him in the right direction.

[silverlib]

12. What I did with something similar

the father and son were reversed though.

I sent a copy of my deceased stepson's ss card and id and a copy of my husband's ss and id and wrote a 100 word paragraph about what happened.

If they do not remove the related bad credit info, they have to print your 100 word statement.

They removed the bad credit history from my husband's report.

This was the way is was in the 1980's and still should be today. I hope for your friend's case it is.

It's sad that families have to go through this. These family members are usually loved no matter what they have done or the kind of life they have led. (My husband's mother was an exception.)

[movie_girl99]

13. it is sad I agree

The family has been through so much. They didn't even know about the alcoholism. he was a private man and they knew he had an occasional drink but apparently was mixing it with pain killers.The family didn't know about them until after he passed and they were going through his room and found a bunch of empty bottles He went in the hospital one day for being jaundiced and died less than a week later. The boys mother has never really been in the picture so it was really tough on them. They moved to another city where they had family and things were looking up until this. i'm writing down all of the info here for him.

Thanks!!!

[silverlib]

14. I forgot to add...

that I sent a copy of the death certificate also.

And my convalescences and best wishes for your friends.