Sally Herigstad is a certified public accountant and the author of "Help! I Can't Pay My Bills: Surviving a Financial Crisis" (St. Martin's Press, 2006).
Dear To Her Credit,
My father died 4 1/2 years ago and had no debt at that time.
My mother survives and is very frugal. She is getting collection calls that my
father owes $33,000. At 83, this confuses and upsets her because we know the claim
is false. How can I tell if someone stole my father's identity? And
what can I do about it? -- Denise
Dear Denise,
I'm sorry to hear about your father. It's hard to believe
people take advantage of a person's death for personal gain, but it's all too
common. For example, some creditors try to jump in line to get paid before the estate is settled (which they generally can't do), and I have heard of cable
companies insisting they should be paid for the month after a subscriber died. Some unscrupulous operators send bogus
medical bills after a person dies of an illness, hoping family members will
just pay up.
It sounds as if
someone has gone a step further in your dad's case and has stolen his identity.
Unfortunately, this isn't hard to do. Thieves glean personal information from
obituaries and other records and hope they don't get caught. Stealing $33,000
is pretty brazen, however. It's not as if that won't be noticed!
There is some chance it isn't technically a case of stolen
identity -- it could be just a rogue collector with a bogus claim. The results
are much the same.
Either way, you need to get to the bottom of this
immediately:
If the collectors call, have your mother tell
them not to contact her by telephone again. Have her get their address so you
can write to them instead. Phone calls from collectors are seldom productive,
and even if she came to an agreement, she can't prove what they said. Further,
federal law requires them to stop calling her if she tells them to.
Pull credit reports for both your parents to
check for unauthorized activity. If a thief ran up one account using your dad's
name, it's hard to know what else he's been up to! You can get a free credit report every
year from each of the three credit bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com.
If it appears someone fraudulently opened an account
in your father's name, go to the police and file an identity theft report.
Send a copy of the police report to the
collector and to any other bogus creditors you find on the credit report.
Make sure the credit reporting bureaus are on
notice that your father has passed away. It's not a bad idea also to sign your
mother up for a 90-day fraud alert at the credit bureaus, too. That will make
it so creditors must actually call her at the number she provides before they
can approve new accounts of any kind.
Collection calls can be very upsetting to anyone. Picture a
bereaved widow who, up until four years ago, had no debt whatsoever and is now
being harassed about a huge, bogus bill! By taking the steps above, starting
with instructions to your mother not to try to reason with collectors on the
phone, however, you can intervene for her and set her mind at ease.
Your mother will probably need more help as time goes by --
it's an inevitable part of life. At least she is trusting and leaning on you so
you can help her. She is fortunate to have you looking out for her interests.
Sally Herigstad answers questions about credit every week for CreditCards.com. Herigstad is a certified public accountant, author and speaker. She also writes regularly for MSN Money, Interest.com, Bankrate.com and RedPlum.com, and has been a guest on Martha Stewart radio and other programs. You can read more about personal finance and download free budgeting worksheets at her website: www.sallyherigstad.com
To Her Credit answers a question about a debt or credit issue from a CreditCards.com reader each week.
Send your question to Sally.
Can bankruptcy tap surprise inheritance? – Having filed for Chapter 13, a woman discovers a surprise inheritance and worries whether she has to turn over the funds to her trustee ...
Joint credit cards don't dissolve with divorce – Getting divorced? If you jointly share credit cards, be prepared to cancel those cards and dissipate the debt before things are finalized d ...
Do you marry someone who has big debt? – He may be Prince Charming, but marrying someone who is carrying a lot of debt can put a serious crimp in your ability to plan for the future ...
Did you like this story? Then sign up for CreditCards.com’s weekly e-newsletter for the latest news, advice, articles and tips. It's FREE. Once a week you will receive the top credit card industry news in your inbox. Sign up now!
