What to do if my husband has just discovered that someone has stolen his idenity, now capital one wants over $2,000?

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What to do if my husband has just discovered that someone has stolen his idenity, now capital one wants over $2,000?

What are the steps we should take to clear things up?

Asked on October 18, 2012 under Bankruptcy Law, Michigan

Answers:

B.H.F., Member, Texas State Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

Identity theft is incredibly frustrating to clear up-- so the first step is just to maintain patience.

Your next step is to let Captial One know that you are formally disputing the debt as not belonging to your husband.  Most major companies have formal dispute procedures.

Your third step is to file a complaint with your local law enforcement agency.  Make sure that you get copies of any reports so that you can submit them to any other creditors as evidence that you were a victim of identity theft and have filed charges for the same.  If your local law enforcment agency refuses to help, contact your state attorney general to let them know (1) of the refusal and (2) to request their assistance. Some smaller law enforcement agencies refuse (when they really aren't authorized to do so) because they don't understand the laws or are ill-equipped to know what to do to investigate these types of case. 

Next, you need to start getting copies of your credit report from the major creditor reporting agencies.  When then reports come in, they will include dispute procedures that you need to follow to get the accounts removed from the reports.  You may need to do this multiple times because agencies will ususually purchase their information from multiple providers who are selling them outdated information. 

You may want to go to your local clerk's offices to see if any judgments have been rended against your husband.  To get these off, you may have to hire an attorney to get them undone.  But a majority of identity theft issues can be resolved with the steps described above.


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