So, my spouse’s identity has been stolen. We recently checked his credit, and there are a number of credit card accounts that appear on the report that aren’t his. The report says that they are 90-120 days past due, but none have gone to collections yet. Naturally, his credit score is in the toilet.
This is not a situation where his credit cards, or numbers, were stolen. These are entirely new lines of credit that he did not apply for, knew nothing about, etc. Datapoint: Spouse and I have the same permanent residence, but he has a house about 300 miles from here that is his in-school residence (I have a good job here, and haven’t found squat where he’s going to school). More data: His house has been under renovation since he got it 18 months ago, we’ve had various workers in and out at various times, he goes away from there for days on end, he’s gone all day most days, he’s had trouble with getting the mail he expects.
We think it’s someone stealing mail from his (at school) mailbox. We are in the process of notifying the creditors that the ID theft happened, the accounts were his, notifying the USPS, etc. We have a shiny new mailbox that locks ready to install tomorrow, when he is back up there.
Do you have any advice on this? I have put together info on contacting the credit agencies, creditors, etc., the baseline of what we need to say and do to get this contested. I started looking at our credit now because we may be moving / getting another house for fall 2008. Are we going to be able to get this cleaned up in 6-ish months? Are there any pitfalls that I would want to know about, so I can avoid them? Will his credit score bounce back when the nasty stuff is gone?
Thanks in advance for all of your words. I am sooooo mad about this. My guy practically kills himself every day working his tail off to finish his PhD and reunite with me, wherever it is we wind up. Any added stress is the last thing he needs. It makes me sick that this is happening to him.
