identity fraud

[cardiac arrest]

not sure if this is the right place but....

my daughter and her partner were declined a mortgage recently after failing a credit check.
After investigating it seems her partners ex wife has run up dozens of defaulted debts after they split but before they were divorced.

many are catalogues, pay day loans, but some are credit cards and they are all on his credit file which has a score of zero.

Most of these have been applied for in joint or in his name, via on line applications.

In addition to her, Yorks Water took out a CCJ against him for a final bill payment sent to the wrong address, which they have
admitted was wrong, and they cleared the default but left the CCJ on file. It'll cost £250 I'm told to remove it.

They were ready to buy their first house together, agreed the price etc etc then wham, this happened and they've lost the deal
until all this can be rectified. Her partner has no debts and just uses one credit card for works petrol which he oays off, he has a
well paid job and doesn't need pay day loans and certainly doesn't buy ladies clothes from a catalogue! (I hope)...

They are in the process of contacting all the lenders but it's a tortuous process and legally, while married he seems to be liable
even though he knew nothing of any of this. it seems one application was made while he was away in asia on holiday so clearly
it's non of his doing, any of it.

The concern is legal liability, and identity fraud and how best to approach his ex and what powers if any they have to force her to remedy.

Any ideas ?

[JLC]

Re: identity fraud

i guess it's just showing the proof that he didn't apply. If it were me, my first port of call would be to report it to the police.

[nanna58]

Re: identity fraud

Didn't want to read and run , I'm sure someone should be able to offer something ,what an awful situation.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: identity fraud

i wonder if when you apply on line they record the IP address ?

[mike'y]

Re: identity fraud

I wouldn't have thought he was liable for items that she ordered after the split in her name but may be wrong. He needs to look at 'disassociation' which I think can be done by an article in the press as well as informing the credit reference agencies. Google this:

notice of disassociation template

If the ex wife has been divorced then she'll be liable for here sole debts and jointly liable for debts used on a joint credit card. If she's borrowed money, obtained goods solely using 'his' name/card etc then I'm sure that would be fraud and a police matter.

She's probably running up the joint card debts hoping he'll be pursued into paying more then her, especially if he has assetts and she has nothing.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: identity fraud

I'm sure that someone who has more knowledge on these matters will be along soon, but surely your partner should be reporting this to the police as fraud.

If he was in the process of divorce, does he have any dated documents from a solicitor that would prove the applications were made after divorce proceedings commenced?

[cardiac arrest]

Re: identity fraud

from what I'm told all of these are before the divorce, which took some years because she wouldn't agree (unsurprisingly as it now appears). .

The problem is the accounts address was not where he was living, so how would he know...she got credit and loans, and didn't pay them back but how this went on like it did I don'tknow because surely she would have had a trashed credit file too ? i don't know all the details and timings but I understand a letter has now been sent to her telling her to clear them all up, or else the police will be involved with regards to identity fraud. My daughter is like me - a rottweiler when she gets her hackles up.....good lass....

thanks for the comments and suggestions

[mike'y]

Re: identity fraud

If the credit was taken out in joint names whilst still married both parties will be equally liable imo. The great thing about this forum is the way it's members can turn a nightmare into an occasional sleepless night :-) It's time to itemise each of the debts. Don't make any offers of payment just yet. Report back once you know who the creditors are and there's no need to panic.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: identity fraud

If the credit was taken out in joint names whilst still married both parties will be equally liable imo. The great thing about this forum is the way it's members can turn a nightmare into an occasional sleepless night :-) It's time to itemise each of the debts. Don't make any offers of payment just yet. Report back once you know who the creditors are and there's no need to panic.

have you actually read the thread ? It's not me having sleepless nights ...or panicking .. She's written anyway having identified all the
debts from the credit file. and is waiting for her (the ex) to respond...seems she's on the case anyway...

[mike'y]

Re: identity fraud

^ Yes of course I read the thread.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: identity fraud

If the credit was taken out in joint names whilst still married both parties will be equally liable imo.

That is true, unless a report of fraud is made hence......

from what I'm told all of these are before the divorce, which took some years because she wouldn't agree (unsurprisingly as it now appears). .

The problem is the accounts address was not where he was living, so how would he know...she got credit and loans, and didn't pay them back but how this went on like it did I don'tknow because surely she would have had a trashed credit file too ? i don't know all the details and timings but I understand a letter has now been sent to her telling her to clear them all up, or else the police will be involved with regards to identity fraud. My daughter is like me - a rottweiler when she gets her hackles up.....good lass....

The views below are based on my limited knowledge of how CIFAS, CRA's, etc so may not be 100% accurate, but at the least consider this:

Taking best case scenario, and 'the ex' pays off all the debts immediately, and CLOSES all the accounts, and provides that proof of that, from the creditors perspective they still both opened the accounts, therefore the data registrered with the CRA's is accurate (even with a notice of dissassociation or correction) which is going to have an impact on your daughters partner for some time to come (depending on default dates etc). The long term consequences on them both, and potential impact on their lives, as they have already found to their cost with having a mortgage declined, is severe, and will only start to improve after at least 2 years, if not 4 or even 6 years (there are specialist mortage providers out there, who will lend depending on number of defaults, amounts, and how old they are, but then your daughter and partner will still be paying the cost through higher % rates).

There are also other consequences, not knowing what your daughters partner does for a living, but there are potenial employment consequences also, if he wants to apply for a job where this could have a detrimental impact.

What if your daughters partner ex doesn't 'put things right' and ignores your daughter (and TBH unless she has a benefactor who will pay all this off for her, I cannot see how she can if she has accumulated so much debt in the first place.) then her partner is exposed to the following risk:

1) A credit file that is still trashed
2) In his creditors eyes, he is still liable with all the legal consequences that comes with that, and I can guarantee you that if his ex cannot pay the debts the creditors WILL come after him if they think he is able to pay instead (and I have very personal experience of this!)
3) The possibility of his ex receiving a court claim, not telling him, and them both getting a CCJ
4) The possibility a creditor goes for a statutory demand, and applies to make both 'the ex' and him bankrupt
5) The possibility his ex pays off the balances on the credit cards, but still keeps a credit line running in both their names
6) The possibility of your daughter and her partner getting a mortgage, and then some time down the line (especially with scenario 5) a creditor popping up and attempting to place a charging order on their home.

I'm struggling to see any reason why your daughters partner has not reported this as fraud to the police, because even if 'the ex' does the right thing, the spiteful consequence on his life (and your daughters) cannot be put right easily.

You will not want to hear this but there is also another consideration which is perhaps your daughters partner is not being entirely honest himself and he was aware of more than he is letting on, which would explain why he is so relectant to report the actions of 'the ex' as fraud. I'm not saying that is the case, but your daughter has to have both eyes open here (or you have to have them open for her as understandably she wants to 100% trust her partner) as I'm afraid there are plenty of women (and men!) who have duped by their partners.

Whatever their choices I hope things work out well for them in the end.

[cardiac arrest]

Re: identity fraud

thank you Salt n Vinegar, that's a very useful analysis and one to seriously ponder on. It has crossed my mind that maybe her knew of these but chose to ignore but in my reckoning i don't think he did..he's a really decent lad and I'm a good judge of people. You might say he has been naive a bit in not disassociating himself from her when they split, especially if he knew what she was like..this has left him exposed financially.In addition to this his not even thinking to check his credit file, but again why would he ? he's applied for and got a new job recently and he's applied for and received a credit card since he split with his ex, so no warning signs were there.

I don't think his ex will pay off the debts even though she is working now,but one factor is she is working at a solicitors apparently and if they knew of this she may find her employment terminated. Whether that would motivate her I don't know, I don't know her.

As for the Police, I do believe they informed them on a fraud issue, but the police said the fraud was not his ex frauding my daughters' partner, but the companies who loaned money to her..and it is they who have a fraud claim if it can be proved. So that line was closed. What they were told was identity fraud was the line to follow but again while married they were still 'associated'. I don't know if any loans were after the actual divorce or they were all while still married, my daughter will know that. The debts are substantial and include barclaycard, capital one,elevate credit, lowellportfolio and lending stream amounting to £6000in total, plus 16 payday loans. All these were opened/taken between 2010 and 2013..I don't know the default dates but you'd imagine sometime around 2012/13 so they're nearly 4 years old...so in 2 or 3 years or so they are off the cra file.? One was opened in May 2012 when he was away in asia. So, there are 5 defaults and goodness how many on the pay day loans, not sure how that works but the interest must be mounting up

Would it not be possible to tell the CRA's about all this and for them to remove the 'association' with him, would they listen or do they stick by the legal liability ? .i presume he has his own credit file or is he permanently linked to his ex, not sure how credit files operate ..I guess your history follows you forever regardless of your changing personal circumstances.

What you're saying is sobering indeed, that even if these are all settled and cleared they remain on his credit file regardless ? is this the case ? I suggested he could just pay them all himself to clear the file but that seems to be pointless unless they are actually removed, plus the fact they are her debts, not his...it's a bit galling tbh.

I'll talk to my daughter again to get an update...thanks again for your input

[JLC]

Re: identity fraud

On my credit file, I'm still associated to my ex husband (been divorced since 1999) and to my current husband. None of my debts affect him (my husband) but the only joint debt we have is a mortgage. When I got divorced in 1999, I had some joint debts with my ex (which he ended up paying most of under a court order), my solicitor told me to get any debts in my husbands name only (him getting them on my behalf).

[cardiac arrest]

Re: identity fraud

On my credit file, I'm still associated to my ex husband (been divorced since 1999) and to my current husband. None of my debts affect him (my husband) but the only joint debt we have is a mortgage. When I got divorced in 1999, I had some joint debts with my ex (which he ended up paying most of under a court order), my solicitor told me to get any debts in my husbands name only (him getting them on my behalf).

could you not have that association removed now ? i got divorced in 2002 and my ex is nowhere near my credit file although i admit we had no
defaults.

[JLC]

Re: identity fraud

I think many many years ago, I did write to Experian to get it removed, but they never did. He's ok with credit so it's not really a problem. It could be because the home I owned with him is still on there as a previous address.