Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois
About 4 years ago my ex husband and I got separated. I moved myself and 2 kids into my mother's house until i was able to get back on my feet. My ex had a cell phone that was under my name. He worked as a truck driver and with roaming charges the bill quickly went up to close to $3,000.00 my cell along with his was turned off. Long story short it went to collections he wouldnt pay the bill and i had basic bills to pay and couldnt afford to pay the cell account. My mother got a cell phone for me and her under her name. (Same place i was in collections at)
About 2 years ago I moved out of my mothers house. Yesterday my mother was attempting to refinance her house and they told her the US Cell account that was mine and in collections is now on her credit report. How can that be if it is/was solely under my name and is currently on MY credit report? she wouldnt have been able to get an account with them if she had one in collections. What can we do to fix this? I cant afford to pay it at once maybe payments but the debt is now under mine and my mother's ssc# and it should have nothing to do with her. My mother wants to sue for defamation because her credit was close to an 800 score prior to this.
Please help?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your Mother needs to validate/verify the account. Make the collection agency prove that the account they are trying to collect on actually belongs to your mother. If they can't prove it then they are required to remove the account listing from your mother's account by law. Whether you validate or verify depends on whether you are dealing with the original creditor or a collection agency.
The process for validating or verifying an account is simple, you send a letter to the company contacting you and request that they send you all the information they have on the account within 5 business days. If they don't you send a dated copy of the letter to the credit reporting agency and get them to investigate and remove the listing.
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