The Federal Trade Commission obtained an order halting a credit repair scheme that allegedly bilked consumers out of millions of dollars by falsely claiming they will remove negative information from credit reports, while also filing fake identity theft reports to explain negative items on customers’ credit reports. At the request of the FTC and the … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I am 32,000 in debt from student loans. My mother pulled out these loans under my name and using my login information on the college site. All of this money did NOT go to me. I was never allowed to ask where it went or how much she was pulling out under … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I live in Georgia and I have a T-Mobile bill in collections account that has been on my credit since 2015. It was an account that a family member opened in my name and I didn’t want to file a police report (I know crazy). While the collection appeared to be dormant, … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My daughter signed up for two credit cards and had my name added on I did not sign anything. If my daughter files for bankrupt can they go after me for the balance? Jerry Answer: Dear Jerry, Yes, unless you identify yourself as a victim of identity theft. You will need to … Read more
Starting today, consumers who are concerned about identity theft or data breaches can freeze their credit and place one-year fraud alerts for free. Under the new Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, consumers in some states – those who previously had to pay fees to freeze their credit – will no longer have … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I graduated from college in 2014 after spending five years in school due to a college transfer my second year in making me incur an extra year. I have several student loans in my name, mostly through Navient and a Perkins loan in my name I believe that’s currently being paid by … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My husband and his business partner used my daughter info to get a private loan. The partner later took my husband to court alleging identity theft because the loan was also in my daughter’s name she was also implicated but charges were later dropped and it was later determined that actually her … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, Ex-wife took out a student loan in my name without my knowledge. didn’t care at the time but now it’s affecting my ability to go back to school since there are holds in my name. What do I do now? Do I have to pay back the loan? Can I ever go … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My husband filled out several car loans applications without my knowledge and put me in as co-applicant, now I have 8 hard inquiries on my report and can’t get them off How do I get them off, equifax took them off but TransUnion won’t. Gail Answer: Dear Gail, The issue here has … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, In 2015, my ex-husband used a credit card after our divorce with my name on it. He charged several thousand dollars on my card, then never paid the credit card company or me. The debt went into collections and I paid-off the $7,000 balance. How do I get reimbursement from my ex-husband … Read more
Robert Morel, a man from Kentucky, was entirely frustrated when he was pursued for years over a student loan he never took out for truck driving school he never attended. By the time Morel was having his wages garnished and tax refunds intercepted he was extremely pissed off and frustrated. Who wouldn’t be? The Courier … Read more
I had previously reported a curious statement by the Department of Education and the suspension of the online Data Retrieval Tool when applying for student loan financial aid using the online FAFSA form. At the time the concern was the “issue” was “relatively isolated,” but a Washington Post report says 100,000 people are impacted. The … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I applied for and signed my children’s names to their private student loans. They each have loans in the six figures. The private loans was on their school website, right next to the federal loans. My husband and I believed we could pay them off and then the financial crisis hit. I … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, When I was 18 (2011) my dad forced me to go to a community college but only online. (he is a controlling person who never let my sister or I outside the house). He told me that I needed to take out student loans to pay for college (on top of FAFSA). … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, Recent grad. Loans are coming up. Consolidated my loans, and mom doesn’t know I took out loans in her name (13,000). Need help figure out which plan is best to repay hers so that she won’t find out and possibly kill, sue, or stab me. Have a few questions on what am … Read more