Credit Bureau Reports and "Flags"

donna723

Well-Known Member
Just another incident in the continuing saga of my ex inflicting harm on his family ... sorry if this gets too long. We've been divorced for twelve years. Three years ago, when my then 24 year old son applied for a job, they pulled his credit reports and on one of the three credit bureaus, his father's name came up instead of his! My son didn't have a computer of his own so he came to my house and we pulled his reports from all three credit bureaus. We found out that his father had apparently used his SSN and possibly his name (they have the same first initial) to get credit and run up bills that he never paid. On one credit bureau, when you put my son's number in, his fathers name comes up! Some of the personal info is my sons, some is his fathers. All three credit bureau reports show various unpaid bills for places my son has never done business with, unpaid co-pays to doctors and hospital ER's, an auto title loan that was never repaid, etc. The Social Security office says it couldn't happen by mistake - he had to have GIVEN my son's SSN and possibly even his name.

We did what we could at the time ... filed complaints, tried to get it changed. He could have prosecuted, but my son didn't want to do that. And we were advised that my son could request to have his credit files "flagged", which he was told would only mean that it was a signal to anyone accessing it to request additional ID, etc., before opening any accounts to make absolutely sure they were dealing with the right person - so he did that. It sounded like a good idea. But it's been so long that neither one of us can remember now how he did it! Then a lot of other things happened that made all this seem unimportant for a while, but it was still there.

All this time since then, he has been unable to even open a checking account! He's been living like a "transient", relying strictly on cash, even though he makes pretty good money. The banks told him it was because of his credit reports and he assumed it was from the bad things on it from his dad. But he tried again recently and the bank refused him again and told him it was because his account had been "flagged"! Yes, it is "flagged" because he had it put on there himself! If he put it on there himself, can he not REMOVE it himself? Does anybody know how you go about doing this?

Monday I'm going to call my local bank and explain to them what happened and see if they can help. Some of the people there, including the branch manager, have known him since he was a kid. Or possibly he could get a joint account with him/me that he could use as his own? If he could open an account at MY bank, he could do business with the branch in the town where he lives and works and have his check direct deposited. Has anybody ever had this happen before? I'm wide open to suggestions here!

And did you notice that I actually got all the way through this and never once mentioned what a dispicable piece of donkey doo-doo it takes to do something like this to their own son!
 

Hopeless

....Hopeful Now
Donna - what a horrible thing for anyone (let alone a relative) to do. If your local bank cannot help you, I would suggest calling one of the credit bureaus to see if your son can remove the flag.

I had an ex that had my credit a mess by having his mistress sign my name on auto loans, signature loans, credit cards, etc. How they did this without an ID is beyond me, but they did it. I had have notarized letters sent with my signature to all of the loans companies and banks. I also had to contact the credit bureaus and place notice on my reports about these items so that I would not have issues when I needed to get any credit.

PS My mother was so right to tell me NOT to marry him, but I was 18 and "in love" LOL
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Our local bank would be of no help to him in clearing his credit because he's never had an account there, but I am hoping they will be able to help him at least get a checking account. Maybe if we explained how it all happened, they could somehow override the "flag" and let him open an account until he can get the rest fixed ... or as "fixed" as it can be. This is a tiny little "hometown" bank where everybody already knows him. The branch manager was his baseball coach for years when he was a kid!

This whole "flag" thing is so upsetting because I actually helped him put it on there! What we were given to believe from the websites we read was that the "flag" would be an indicator to anyone checking his credit file that they should be very careful to verify the identity of anyone claiming to be him because an attempt had already been made to use his identity. This is just supposed to mean that they would ask for several forms of ID to make sure he is who he says he is. Instead, it's turned him in to a financial leper who can't even open a checking account!

And yes, his father is a total *&$^#%!
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
I understand. GFGmom used the boys ss# to get electricity turned on when she moved and left an unpaid bill. Then again she is a GIANT "piece of work" since I recently found out she has been collecting SSD
for grandson who lives with me for years!

She and your Ex would make a great team! Sorry. I do know how angry you feel. DDD
 
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