My BF recently applied for a Target credit card. He currently has no other cards. His parents did something when he was 16 or 17 that was not exactly legal. They signed his name on a mortgage loan in order to acquire a new house. They later foreclosed on the mortgage, dooming his credit. Does anybody know how to fix this? I’m close to panic. If he can’t get a Target card, how on earth is he ever going to be able to do ANYTHING.
If it’ll help this is what the refusal letter says:
-Your credit bureau reports indicates major past or present delinquences
-Your credit bureau report indicates a high ration of debt to availabe credit
-Inactive or insufficient recent credit history
I don’t know what to say about that, because quite frankly he has never had a chance to ruin his credit like this, other then what his parents have done. He currently has money in the bank and a good job, there’s NO reason why he shouldn’t have a credit card right now, even if it’s just Target card.
He was 16 or 17 like I said, but now he’s 20. He needs to get this fixed. Any ideas? Anything please!
“Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey”-The Beatles
“People try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend…” The Moody Blues
“To start, press any key. Where’s the any key?” Homer Simpson.
You can always get a copy of your credit report for a nominal fee, but when you’ve been refused credit you can get a copy at no cost. (See the refusal letter to find out how to do that.)
Get the report. Read each entry. If there are factual errors you can write to the credit reporting agency to have them corrected. Follow up to see that the corrections are made.
The deal with Mom and Dad pulling a fast one and misusing his credit is a different story, though. Writing a letter may not suffice. (It might be worth a try, though.) My advice would be to talk to an attorney, since Mom and Dad may still be liable to criminal or civil action for fraud. He may not want to waken that sleeping dog.
You’re on the right track though. Good credit is important even if you’re not going to use it right away. When you need it, you really need it.
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.
What exactly was the mortgage lender thinking?! When I got my mortgage, I had to provide copies of income tax returns, paystubs, credit card bills, statements from any other outstanding loans (car loan, student loan) plus they pulled copies of my credit reports, as well as provide ID that I was me. How did that mortgage get approved? No one with no credit history is going to get a mortgage; did they even do a credit check, or was this something his parents did regularly?
I think BF is lying. It’s highly unlikely that a 17 year old could buy a house with no previous credit, no money, no job, etc.
Fixing the credit is just a matter of establishing (or re-establishing) credibility. The problem is just time and effort. (Effort meaining writing to whoever he owes money to and making amends, plus building a good credit history a little at a time).
But as I said in the first paragraph, I don’t think fixing the credit is the problem. I think you you should watch out for this guy.
I’m going to mostly agree with billehunt here. Either BF is lying, or you’ve got some misinformation some other way. 16 and 17 year olds don’t get mortgages.
If this somehow did happen, I think that BF would mostly have to point out he was a minor at the time of the alleged mortgage.
Pepper, I’d like to give your boyfriend the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions.
Folks have told you how he can get a credit report, if he shares it with you you’ll know the full story. If he doesn’t share it with you, then you can start to be suspicious like the others in this thread have suggested.
IANAL, but I have to believe that if the parents did something with his name at age 16 that it is not binding - the contract can be annulled, meaning it never existed. This would be a matter of going to the credit bureau and saying “Here is my birth certificate, here is the date of the credit problem, here is the law of <insert state here> saying that no one under 18 may enter into a legal agreement. I expect you to expunge this from my record.” You may have to go to the original creditor and do the same thing, and they should be embarassed at having broken the law by signing a contract with a non-emancipated minor. He wasn’t emancipated, right?
As has been pointed out, if the parents did do something that exposes them to prosecution, your boyfriend may wish to just eat the credit problem and move on. IIRC, bankrupcy and other problems disappear from the report after 7 years. Start by getting a ‘secured’ credit card, where you put $500 in an account and the bank gives you a credit card with that credit limit, then work your way back up to a real visa/mastercard, then over a couple of years of responsible credit usage you may be able to get most credit cards to issue you an account. You will not be able to buy a house with a bankrupcy on your record without going through Shady Dealing’s loan company and paying through the nose.
The boyfriend is most likely not telling thr truth. A mortgage application is gone over with a fine-tooth comb; his parents’ “using his name” would not have helped them, since a 16 or 17 year old will have insufficient credit and employment history to qualify.
His story would have been better if he had claimed his parents used his name to apply for a credit card, and later defaulted on it. That’s certainly possible.
In your thread on the ex-girlfriend or whatever, you posted: “However, we have our own seperate account and our own seperate bills. Including car paymets, and credit cards. He also pays all my school fees, and buys my clothes, etc etc.” So whose credit card were you talking about? Yours? And what’s with the plural “car payments?” Sorry, but when you continually play fast and loose with your facts, it’s hard to respond to anything you write. If what you’ve said in this thread is accurate, the advice you’ve received is on the money–get a copy of the credit report and find out what’s on there. Alternatively, please post the name of the bank that accepted a 17 year old as a co-signer on a mortgage, because I have some property to sell in Florida and it sounds like that bank might be interested.
all good advice from the above; under 18 you cannot be bound by contract; wheres the mortgage agreement? have you seen it? either the parents are guilty of fraud or abuse of parental authority. at the closing there would have been legal counsel from buyer and seller; plus the mortgage gone over by the mortgage company. no-one saw this? tis hard to believe. in any case, i would think hes not liable for judgements or actions against the parents. the initial mortgage holders may be liable also. get documentation to pursue a resolution of the problem. if hes not anxious and forthgiving; maybe hes full of beans.
handy, bite your tongue, please. People under 16 are employed all the time; employment is a type of contract.
There are, however, limits on what types of contracts minors can enter into, and what the ramifications are if either the parents refuse to ratify the contract or the minor defaults. Individual state laws vary; see yours for details.
Judge Judy should never be listened to for accurate information regarding the law.
I’m giving BF the benefit of the doubt. You can’t rule out the possibility of a loan broker or representative faking documents for the BF (ID, income docs, bank statements, etc) and not telling them anything about it. I’m in the mortgage industry and see it all the time. If this is the case, they could open a humungous can of worms if he tries to get the foreclosure deleted. But if the lender recovered their principle and costs when they sold the property, they may not have anything to sue for.
Best advise was given already. Check the credit for any other erroneous info and leave the foreclosure alone. Open a secured credit card or 2 and before you know it, they’ll be falling over each other to give your BF credit.
I have to agree with Red on this, there are people out there whose soul career is sneaking through loopholes and such when it comes to mortgages and the like. It’s not exactly legal, pepperlandgirl hit the nail on the head. I’ve seen it first-hand. My ex-BF’s parents did the same with a house they were about to lose. I have no advice, just thought I’d chime in with that.
Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive.
The car payment and credit cards are mine, not his. He just makes the payments as his rent. As I mentioned earlier, I HAD a job before I moved, and when I had the job, I took out a loan on a car for about 6,000 and I have a couple store credit cards and another one with a 500 limit.
I have a pretty good idea about how his parents used his name (and his little brother’s) They had some connections, some friends at the bank and at the real estate. They definatley had the oppurtunity.
Thank you everybody for your advise. We don’t want to bring legal action against his parents, but right now I have a decent credit rating and I’m not even 18. I’ve never even been late with a payment. He on the other hand can’t get jack shit, and that’s why I’m worried.
I’ll share these suggestions with him and see what he wants to do. Thanks again.
“Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey”-The Beatles
“People try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend…” The Moody Blues
“To start, press any key. Where’s the any key?” Homer Simpson.
The car payment and credit cards are mine, not his. He just makes the payments as his rent. As I mentioned earlier, I HAD a job before I moved, and when I had the job, I took out a loan on a car for about 6,000 and I have a couple store credit cards and another one with a 500 limit.
I have a pretty good idea about how his parents used his name (and his little brother’s) They had some connections, some friends at the bank and at the real estate. They definatley had the oppurtunity.
Thank you everybody for your advise. We don’t want to bring legal action against his parents, but right now I have a decent credit rating and I’m not even 18. I’ve never even been late with a payment. He on the other hand can’t get jack shit, and that’s why I’m worried.
I’ll share these suggestions with him and see what he wants to do. Thanks again.
“Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey”-The Beatles
“People try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend…” The Moody Blues
“To start, press any key. Where’s the any key?” Homer Simpson.
