Problems with a Credit report--authorized user

[MandaJo]

I have a former student, now 21 and a junior in college, who recently discovered that his mother had put him down as an “authorized user” on several cards which she has since defaulted on. His credit is now in shambles. Is there any way to appeal this? He never used the cards and I don’t think even knew that she had done this.

[Philster]

Dispute them. Policy is to remove authorized user accounts when they hurt you. There are three major reporting agencies.

You will need to get a report first from Experian and Equifax. Get free ones at www.annualcreditreport.com Once you have the report, you will need the file number from the report to call them or dispute info.

TransUnion will accept your dispute without you needing to get a credit report first: 800-916-8800 and they will answer your call in less than a minute.

[griffin1977]

Wow I had no idea such things existed. Yet another way the credit industry screws you over. It looks like that they SHOULDN’T be on there at all, but credit card (and debt recovery) companies put authorized users on there to try blackmail people into paying debts they are not responsible for, and it can be a pain to get rid of them. At least according to this page:

How Does an Authorized User Get Rid of Delinquencies on Her Record?

JG: So what can she do?

CC: Assuming she is confident she signed nothing herself, she should write to each credit grantor and get a copy of the contract that her boyfriend signed. At the same time, she should write to both the credit grantor and the credit reporting agency, as follows:

“I’m an authorized user only and am not financially responsible for this debt. By reporting me delinquent, you are impugning my credit reputation in full violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). I am aware of my rights under the Act. I intend to enforce them if you don’t immediately remove all derogatory information from my credit profile that you placed there as a result of non-payment by the financially responsible party.”

In addition, please provide me with a copy of the agreement you claim I signed and upon which you are reporting delinquencies in my name to the credit bureaus.

JG: She should write the credit grantor twice?

CC: Yes. While this may seem like a duplication of effort, she should be armed with all available information to back her up if the bureaus prove to be obstinate, which they often are.

JG: And if this doesn’t work?

CC: She will have to play hardball and hire an attorney to write an even more forceful letter. Both consumer reporting agencies and credit grantors can be sued under the FCRA, and it might help if more people did it. The attorney should specialize in FCRA matters. The National Association of Consumer Advocates provides a list, see NACA .

JG: As a postscript, the woman who wrote the letter above wrote me later to relate how she had fared in following Catherine’s advice. She said that two of the four credit grantors that had reported her delinquent responded immediately and were cooperative. The other two gave her the run-around. They finally came around, but only after she had spent an inordinate amount of time on the telephone and had made a thorough nuisance of herself.

[Markxxx]

I would bet that isn’t what happened. I would venture a guess that the mother had bad credit and then used her son’s social security number to obtain credit in his name that she used. Then she screwed up his credit.

This happens a lot. More and more parents do this. And it has some practical use. If you screw up your kids credit when he’s 7 years old, it falls off the report by the time the kid is 14.

Of course you obtained the credit through fraud so that’s another issue.

[griffin1977]

@Markxxx

I would bet that isn’t what happened. I would venture a guess that the mother had bad credit and then used her son’s social security number to obtain credit in his name that she used. Then she screwed up his credit.

And in this case its probably easier to dispute (though still a pain). Simply dispute those entries on the report as not accurate (there is no need to file a criminal complaint, or implicate the mother in anyway).

[MandaJo]

Thank you all for your responses.

Can you really dispute charges without implicating the mother? We are apparently talking about 5 or 6 cards, and some of the charges go all the way back to 2003, when this kid was 14.

[griffin1977]

@MandaJo

Thank you all for your responses.

Can you really dispute charges without implicating the mother? We are apparently talking about 5 or 6 cards, and some of the charges go all the way back to 2003, when this kid was 14.

Yes, if indeed it was out-and-out fraudulent. While you used to need a police report to get a copy of your report (not anymore thanks to annualcreditreport.com and the FCRA), its up the the reporting agency to prove the entry was created by you, not you to prove it was fraudulent. Here is a guide to disputing entries.

[griffin1977]

@MandaJo

some of the charges go all the way back to 2003, when this kid was 14.

Additionally as a minor they are probably not legally responsible for any contracts signed under the age of 18.

How that applies to credit reports, legally speaking, I’m not sure, I suspect they will not bother fighting it he points out the fact he was a minor at the time in his dispute letter (as well the fact he had nothing to with the entries in question).