gobusdriver
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? WA
My ex wife of 11 years may have used my personal information (SS #) to obtain a credit card(s) either before, during or after our Separation/Divorce. I don't know if she applied on the internet or by using pre-approved offers that came to me in the mail, but I have no recolection of ever applying for the credit card in question. She may have applied using my name and SS# and then put herself down as as additonal user on the application. I didn't immediately find out, in fact it wasn't until last December (11 yrs later) when I went to refinance my home with my new wife of 3 years. I was told by the Mortgage Company that I should seek to resolve the matter. I filed a police report and I notified all three credit reporting agencies to have them place a fraud alert on my credit. I contacted the Credit Card Company (Billing Dispute Department) and made them aware that I had been a victim of Identity Theft/Fraud, told them to close the account (which by now had a $7500.00 Balance Due and a $9400.00 Credit Limit) and to send me documentation of the charges, application to open account, and to investigate. I included my Divorce Finding of Fact, DL#, copy of Police Case #, etc. I received a letter acknowledging that they had closed the account and also some documentation of the charges. IT WAS MY EX-WIFE. She even signed her name! Then I received a letter that said it WAS NOT IDENTITY THEFT/FRAUD because she was an authorized user and the debt is my responsibility. I have sent a second request for the application to open the account as well as any documentation adding authorized users, but they have not provided this yet. Apparently, my ex had been making the minimum payments up to this time, but I just received the bill in the mail, complete with a late fee! I never have received a bill before now. When I had the account closed, I guess she now figures she doesn't have to pay! The Findings of Fact clearly says that any debts she incurred after the date of seperation are her seperate responsibility... but the Credit Card Company doesn't seem to care because she was an "authorized user." I can't believe it! I have also found out that at the time of our divorce, she closed accounts where she was the account owner and I was an authorized user, and she transferred balances to the Credit Card in question from these accounts to zero them out! Does this spell F-R-A-U-D with intent to anyone else but me??? Can she really get away with this? What can I do? How can I make the Credit Card Company provide me with the documents I requested? What do I do about the payments and late fees? Do I let them build? Do/should I pay on the account until it is resolved? If they do not provide me with the original application to open the account, how can they prove she was an authorized user? Is the burden of proof on them or me? HELP!!! Thanks for reading, any opinion/advice would be appreciated.
My ex wife of 11 years may have used my personal information (SS #) to obtain a credit card(s) either before, during or after our Separation/Divorce. I don't know if she applied on the internet or by using pre-approved offers that came to me in the mail, but I have no recolection of ever applying for the credit card in question. She may have applied using my name and SS# and then put herself down as as additonal user on the application. I didn't immediately find out, in fact it wasn't until last December (11 yrs later) when I went to refinance my home with my new wife of 3 years. I was told by the Mortgage Company that I should seek to resolve the matter. I filed a police report and I notified all three credit reporting agencies to have them place a fraud alert on my credit. I contacted the Credit Card Company (Billing Dispute Department) and made them aware that I had been a victim of Identity Theft/Fraud, told them to close the account (which by now had a $7500.00 Balance Due and a $9400.00 Credit Limit) and to send me documentation of the charges, application to open account, and to investigate. I included my Divorce Finding of Fact, DL#, copy of Police Case #, etc. I received a letter acknowledging that they had closed the account and also some documentation of the charges. IT WAS MY EX-WIFE. She even signed her name! Then I received a letter that said it WAS NOT IDENTITY THEFT/FRAUD because she was an authorized user and the debt is my responsibility. I have sent a second request for the application to open the account as well as any documentation adding authorized users, but they have not provided this yet. Apparently, my ex had been making the minimum payments up to this time, but I just received the bill in the mail, complete with a late fee! I never have received a bill before now. When I had the account closed, I guess she now figures she doesn't have to pay! The Findings of Fact clearly says that any debts she incurred after the date of seperation are her seperate responsibility... but the Credit Card Company doesn't seem to care because she was an "authorized user." I can't believe it! I have also found out that at the time of our divorce, she closed accounts where she was the account owner and I was an authorized user, and she transferred balances to the Credit Card in question from these accounts to zero them out! Does this spell F-R-A-U-D with intent to anyone else but me??? Can she really get away with this? What can I do? How can I make the Credit Card Company provide me with the documents I requested? What do I do about the payments and late fees? Do I let them build? Do/should I pay on the account until it is resolved? If they do not provide me with the original application to open the account, how can they prove she was an authorized user? Is the burden of proof on them or me? HELP!!! Thanks for reading, any opinion/advice would be appreciated.