...my mom opened a Discover card in my name a few years ago and did nt keep up w/the payments...now the balance is about $1700. I did not sign any contract nor did I authorize my mom to obtain this card. I disputed w/the CRAs and they all verified. Then I sent a validation letter to Discover and they responded w/a typical statement. I sent a second validation letter and I just received another bill in the mail today, but no validation. I also sent a letter to the CRAs asking how could they have verified the debt. I am now awaiting a response from their investigation. The bottom line is that I never signed any papers saying that I was contractually obligated to repay the debt. Besides, its not even my debt!...and my mom won't pay it. How should I proceed?
I would say two words Fraudulently Obtained...Call Discover tell them you never opened the account and have them send you a copy of the application..They will probably send you a fraud avadavat which you will need to sign.
exactly...and i want to avoid that. I don't want anything to happen to anyone else. I just want this off my credit report b/c I'm nt responsible for it. I'm just confused b/c I don't know how they could "verify" the debt if I never signed a contract.
If you want it off, you'll have to dispute it as fraud- and for >$1,700 they will likely go after your mom. Since it's >$1,000, that could include law enforcement. There's no good way out of this except for you to pay it or cooperate with their fraud folks. I'm not one to judge, but would this be a good lesson for your mom to learn - not to apply for credit in someone else's name? I wonder if Discover would agree to some kind of settlement on this ... i.e. "It's not my debt, I never signed anything ... but since it was my mom, I feel somewhat responsible. Can we settle for 50%, you remove from my report, list it as "settled" on her report, and we end it there? Otherwise, I don't think you'll get anything out of her, and the lawyers alone will more than double your losses." It can't hurt to try... and good luck to you. -mj
For everyone: Would it be legal to put a lein against mom's house or car or something for the amount? Does mom have a credit card of her own?
You can only put a lein on assets if (a) the borrower agreed to put the asset as a security against the loan or (b) after filing for and obtaining a judgement and then going through all the attachment proceedings ... mj
