Upon review of my credit report, I discovered that my ex-husband had opened a new account, unbeknownst to me, with the electric company using my name and all of my information... and of course (can you guess?) not paid them, resulting in it now showing on my credit report. As an aside, the amount due is $666, make what you will of that.
It was a tumultuous couple years, and I hadn't checked my report for a bit, so it was sitting there for awhile. I only discovered it when I received a letter from a collection agency, at my current address. My current address has always been my permanent address and is different from my ex-husband's former address (the address in question). When we married, I stayed with him most of the time on the East Coast although I'm from the West Coast. I commuted to my job in the MidWest, so it all sort of made sense.
Anyway, I sent a letter to the power company (the original debtor) and copied the collection agency, explaining what I assumed had happened... that my ex-husband had, without my permission or knowledge, used my information and setup this account. I explained that I have a restraining order against him and that he was not supposed to be harassing me in any way (I assumed that this wouldn't matter, as I believe he did this before the restraining order, but thought I'd just throw it out there, in case I got a sympathetic soul). I also cc'd my attorney on the letter (again, I assumed it wouldn't do anything, but thought I'd just give it a go). I received a nice response from the power company, asking for a copy of my license, showing my permanent address, and some other identifying information. I sent the requested info and never heard anything back from the power company or the collection agency, so I figured I was in the clear.
I gave it a few months to kick in, and have the paperwork catch up and checked my report again, and it's still there. I filed an online dispute through Credit Karma and after a few weeks, I got the response that it would not be removed because it was a valid charge (obviously not the exact words, but that was the gist of it). I'm in the U.S.
My question: Now what?
Submitted November 21, 2018 at 07:49PM by SixSidesToEveryLie https://ift.tt/2AeHcVO
