credit report shocker

What is the name of your state? TX

UGH. My husband and I are in the process of pre-approval for a new mortgage (upgrading to a bigger house) and when the bank ran our credit report, a credit card he is not familiar with popped up, containing a balance of $17,000. The bank said it was a card that was opened in 2000, so I'm pretty sure it's a card his ex opened while they were still married, and it was a joint card, and his name just has never been taken off of it. What does he have to do? They were divorced in 2005.

kimberlywrites said:

What is the name of your state? TX

UGH. My husband and I are in the process of pre-approval for a new mortgage (upgrading to a bigger house) and when the bank ran our credit report, a credit card he is not familiar with popped up, containing a balance of $17,000. The bank said it was a card that was opened in 2000, so I'm pretty sure it's a card his ex opened while they were still married, and it was a joint card, and his name just has never been taken off of it. What does he have to do? They were divorced in 2005.

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Well the first thing he needs to do is have his name taken off the account if he hasn't done so. If the cards in his name only he needs to close the account all together.

penelope10 said:

Well the first thing he needs to do is have his name taken off the account if he hasn't done so. If the cards in his name only he needs to close the account all together.

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He didn't even KNOW about the card until today.

kimberlywrites said:

He didn't even KNOW about the card until today.

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I understand. He needs to have his name taken off the account if it's joint. If it's only in his name he needs to close the account. He can also ask to see a copy of the credit card application.....

penelope10 said:

I understand. He needs to have his name taken off the account if it's joint. If it's only in his name he needs to close the account. He can also ask to see a copy of the credit card application.....

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He doesn't even know the number on the account.

kimberlywrites said:

He doesn't even know the number on the account.

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Have hubby ask the bank for the Credit Card Company name, account number, etc. He can also request a copy of his Credit Report through the agency the bank used.

penelope10 said:

Well the first thing he needs to do is have his name taken off the account if he hasn't done so. If the cards in his name only he needs to close the account all together.

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Its not quite that simple. TX is a community property state therefore if the charges were made during the marriage, he is equally liable. If the charges were made after the marriage, he is going to have to prove that he didn't sign the credit application.

Even in a non community property state someone cannot just take themselves off a credit card if there is a balance due.

We ordered the full report from TransUnion, so we will have the account number that way. he can then call the credit card company and find out who's names are on there.
Here's my theory: Wife opened the account in 2000 - but never used it until after their divorce. Because if there was debt on that card at the time of the divorce, she would have definitely made sure he got stuck with half the balance. He did not know anything about this card until today. So, charges to the card were likely made after their divorce, his name being on there as the secondary holder from when she got the card while they were married.
Anyway, nothing he can do right now until the credit report arrives and he has an account number. Unless ex fesses up. She hasn't returned his call on this yet.

LdiJ said:

Its not quite that simple. TX is a community property state therefore if the charges were made during the marriage, he is equally liable. If the charges were made after the marriage, he is going to have to prove that he didn't sign the credit application.

Even in a non community property state someone cannot just take themselves off a credit card if there is a balance due.

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You're right as it stands now, he will be liable for any charges made prior to his contacting the company and requesting that his name be removed from the account. And the Company may or may not take his name off the account. Another option is that Hubby request that no new charges be allowed on the account. In other words freeze the account. He can ask the CC Co to provide to him a copy of the credit application.He will have a difficult time getting the credit card co to acknowledge that he didn't apply for the card though. . .

Op says she thinks the ex wife opened the account while they were married. So Hubby either didn't know about the card or forgot about the card. Then after the divorce she ran the card up...Maybe Hubby will get lucky and it's not his account at all. The Credit Bureau made a mistake in whose credit report the account is recorded on. (Not highly likely though).

penelope10 said:

You're right as it stands now, he will be liable for any charges made prior to his contacting the company and requesting that his name be removed from the account. And the Company may or may not take his name off the account. Another option is that Hubby request that no new charges be allowed on the account. In other words freeze the account. He can ask the CC Co to provide to him a copy of the credit application.He will have a difficult time getting the credit card co to acknowledge that he didn't apply for the card though. . .

Op says she thinks the ex wife opened the account while they were married. So Hubby either didn't know about the card or forgot about the card. Then after the divorce she ran the card up...Maybe Hubby will get lucky and it's not his account at all. The Credit Bureau made a mistake in whose credit report the account is recorded on. (Not highly likely though).

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If she did in fact run up the card after the divorce, wouldn't the divorce decree itself prove the date of the divorce, meaning he wouldn't be held accountable for charges from that date forward...?

And, I might add, she has been remarried since April 2007.

kimberlywrites said:

If she did in fact run up the card after the divorce, wouldn't the divorce decree itself prove the date of the divorce, meaning he wouldn't be held accountable for charges from that date forward...?

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They'll probably take the stance that he knew about the account and failed to notify them of the divorce etc. Therefore, he's liable for any charges on the account after the divorce.

He really does need to request from them a copy of the application for the credit card. If it ends up that he signed the CC application he's totally SOL. Even if someone forged his name on the application he's going to have a difficult go of it because he's going to have to prove to the CC Co's satisfaction that it was a forgery.

Now he may have some legal recourse against the ex wife if she ran up the card without his knowledge during the divorce. He'll need to be able to prove that she's the one that put the charges on the card. So he'll need to check with the CC company to see how long they keep charge records with signatures.He'll also need to request a history on the account.

I suggest checking with the attorney that represented him during the divorce if a Senior doesn't come along that can better answer your question.(Now I'm pretty lucky. I can call my old divorce attorney with general questions and he answers them for FREE. Although not all attorneys are nice enough to do this).

Also has he checked his decree to see if this CC was listed in the division of marital debt and perhaps he just forgot about it?

penelope10 said:

They'll probably take the stance that he knew about the account and failed to notify them of the divorce etc. Therefore, he's liable for any charges on the account after the divorce.

He really does need to request from them a copy of the application for the credit card. If it ends up that he signed the CC application he's totally SOL. Even if someone forged his name on the application he's going to have a difficult go of it because he's going to have to prove to the CC Co's satisfaction that it was a forgery.

Now he may have some legal recourse against the ex wife if she ran up the card without his knowledge during the divorce. He'll need to be able to prove that she's the one that put the charges on the card. So he'll need to check with the CC company to see how long they keep charge records with signatures.He'll also need to request a history on the account.

I suggest checking with the attorney that represented him during the divorce if a Senior doesn't come along that can better answer your question.(Now I'm pretty lucky. I can call my old divorce attorney with general questions and he answers them for FREE. Although not all attorneys are nice enough to do this).

Also has he checked his decree to see if this CC was listed in the division of marital debt and perhaps he just forgot about it?

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While I think that your heart is in the right place, you really don't understand how this works.

The credit card company is only bound by the terms of the credit agreement. They are not parties to the divorce and won't change squat if they are notified of a divorce. They will cancel an account leaving only the remaining balance to pay if asked to do so, but that's about it.

As far as the credit card company is concerned, he is liable for this debt unless he can prove that he never signed the credit application or unless he cancelled the account and his ex reinstated it.

He does have other recourse against his ex however, but it won't do him much good unless SHE has the means to pay the debt.

LdiJ said:

While I think that your heart is in the right place, you really don't understand how this works.

The credit card company is only bound by the terms of the credit agreement. They are not parties to the divorce and won't change squat if they are notified of a divorce. They will cancel an account leaving only the remaining balance to pay if asked to do so, but that's about it.

As far as the credit card company is concerned, he is liable for this debt unless he can prove that he never signed the credit application or unless he cancelled the account and his ex reinstated it.

He does have other recourse against his ex however, but it won't do him much good unless SHE has the means to pay the debt.

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Please go back and reread my posts. What You've said I've said, but in a different way. And sorry if I did not make myself clear.(And I am not trying to be disrespectful to you) And I worked in a credit related field so I do understand how it works. I did tell the OP that her husband needed to request a copy of the application.( In fact I also told OP that even if the signature is a forgery he's going to have a tough go proofing that to the CC co) I also said he could request that his name be removed from the account NOW.(The CC may or may not be willing to do this) This is to avoid any future liability for the account. If the CC won't take his name of at a minimum he can request that the account be frozen---Did not make myself clear on this however. Later in another post I stated that the CC card co is going to take the stance that he's liable for the debt currently on the card. They are not going to forgive it. And the CC co will also probably take the stance not to forgive the charges during and after the divorce because he did not notify the co of the divorce and request that his name be removed at that time. (I did not explain this well by stating that the CC co was not a party to the divorce and therefore does not have to forgive those charges).

I also stated that he can ask for copies of signatures on charges. And a copy of the credit history. This will be important if he wants to go after the EX for the charges during and after the DIVORCE. Hubby can go after the ex---whether or not he collects is another story. At least he can get a judgment against her. This may be of some future help to him should he apply for a home loan etc. While the debt won't be forgiven and taken off the Credit Bureau he will have something in hand (the judgment) to take to a company that he's trying to get a loan from. (Look this is on my bureau, but here's proof of what happened). Then it's up to that individual company if they Want to take the judgment in account as to whether or not to extend Hubby credit.

Hope I explained this better. And you're right I did not explain this well. Thanks for pointing this out and I hope this post has made it clearer.

Update

Well gang, we have been able to confirm it in fact was the ex. It's a card she had while they were married, and she had him as secondary card holder. She claims she took his name OFF the card the day they separated. Indeed the card IS in her new married name. She said her husband is the secondary card holder, not my husband. The credit card company says otherwise. What SHE needs to do is cancel the card and transfer the balance to her own card. She would have to cooperate to do that, though. Now she's made that her ex (my husband) knows all about her massive credit card debt.