Credit cards have become an insidious yoke of debt around the necks of millions of people, especially usury levels of 20% interest or higher. Since FICO scores were adopted for credit references, they have become a part of the death spiral that can prevent people from getting better jobs, financing a home, or any number of other situations where a credit score is a determining factor in approval. The onerous debt loads imposed by credit card companies have been addressed by President Donald Trump, who proposed a 10% cap on credit card interest. No less a political opposite than Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders praised Trump’s proposal and concurred with its urgency. 

An even worse scenario is when your credit score is being eroded due to the acts of other people without your knowledge. In some cases, it could be a case of ID theft, an all too frequent crime in the cyberage. However, in other cases, a relative may have either innocently or malevolently used your data and your credit score is suffering as a result. 

When Your Dad May Have Committed ID Fraud On You

A Reddit poster found out that his FICO credit score dropped precipitously from 800+ to 578. When he checked, he discovered that it was due to his name being on his father’s credit card, which was delinquent for 3 payments.

Understandably distressed, since his name had been added without his knowledge, the poster was worried about what his recourse options were, or if he was screwed. The underlying, but unstated concern was whether or not his father’s actions were an oversight or if there was malicious intent. 

Analyzing Sensitively

The poster clearly has a gamut of emotions and concerns that he does not detail. Barring a previously established rancorous relationship with his father, some of the following are examples of questions that should be examined, especially if the goal is to preserve the family ties while resolving the FICO score impact:

• If the son has been away at college or lives apart and hasn’t spoken or seen his father for the past 3 months, the credit card may have been intended to be a surprise gift.

• Did the father add the son’s name for the benefit of the son to use in an emergency and then forget about a minor charge that may have been made on the card?
• The son apparently is reluctant to confront the father on this topic, so there could very well be an innocent answer. 

Conversely,

• Has the father experienced signs of Alzheimer’s or Dementia which may have caused him to forget the card?
• Does the father have gambling debts or other covert obligations that may have prompted him to obtain the card with the poster’s name added?
• Is there an undisclosed passive/aggressive issue at hand, such as a bitter divorce where the poster’s father may have defaulted to force the ex-wife and her new husband to fork over funds? 

Proactive Remedial Steps To Take

According to Expedia and other agencies, there are few options that the poster has, but there are certain procedures he definitely needs to take immediately to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

• If the poster was only added as an authorized user on the credit card, he should contact the credit card issuer and request to have his name removed. 
• In the event that the poster discovers that he is listed as a co-signatory, this presents a deeper problem. It would mean that the father committed ID theft. 
• If indeed an ID theft scenario is at hand, the poster must freeze his account and will have to file a police report.

In either scenario, if the poster presumably never used the credit card, since he was unaware of its existence, contacting Expedia, Equifax, and TransUnion is also an important move. Explaining to them the situation and their ability to verify that he never used the card can possibly prompt them to delete the negative data from his FICO score 

A discussion between the poster and his father needs to be had very soon. The repercussions and reactions from other family members can get ugly fast, so open communications, honest disclosure, and mutually agreed upon resolution steps are the key to preserving peace among relatives.

This article is intended to be read for informational purposes only. A financial credit professional should be consulted for better-qualified counsel if such advice is being sought

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.