Please help, forgery victim....

[simplicityof]

Let me throw a hypothetical at you guys.

Say someone's mother opened up 4 separate credit cards in their name because her credit was tarnished from a previous Chapter 7 filing in her own name. This person was NOT AT ALL AWARE that these cards were being opened, never signed anything, nothing. And then say that person's mother tells them that she charged 30 thousand dollars over a certain amount of time and has been paying minimum payments for some time but suddenly cannot pay it back because they recently lost their job, so she now needs this person to file bankruptcy in their name for charges they didn't know existed under their name, for cards that they didn't know existed in their name.

So, say this person can't call the police because although what has happened is unbelievable, it is their mother and they absolutely (seriously, absolutely, don't even bother going there) refuse to turn the crime in. Say this person can't even begin to pay this off because they are a student, so either way, the payments will be late at the very least.

Hypothetically, what is this person's best option? Is bankruptcy the only solution? This person may have been supposed to start graduate school this upcoming fall, and is aware that this would hinder them obtaining private student loans.

If this person existed, they would be very thankful of anyone who offered advice.

You couldn't have said it any clearer, so if anyone has a problem with your post they need to get real. After all, discussion forums are nothing more than hypothetical and only worth what you get out of it.
I'll admit I have a problem taking members with ridiculous avatars seriously..

[OnTheRocks]

If you hang around here long enough, you'll see who responds to people's concerns and you'll get good info. But if you want to alienate the ones that help, ..well this forum won't do you much good

[blankslate]

I'm sorry for your mess and like others, I know all too well that same situation. $30k is A LOT to have charged under your name and I agree with the others who say you need to turn her in for her crime. She needs help and so do you at this point. I've been through the same thing with my family (Mother and siblings) and they never stop if you don't do something. People like that take advantage of your loyalty and you are the one left with the debt and stress. The person who racked up $30k in debt was NOT looking out for your best interest, you're the only one who will do that.

[viking64]

Hypothetically, I'm sorry this happened to you, and I very much understand family commitments, love, and forgiveness, but . . .

If a mother did this to her child, that speaks either very poorly of the love and compassion she has for that child, or of the extent she is in bondage to an addiction or mental illness. If it's the first, she doesn't deserve the kind of forgiveness that includes falling on one's sword for her crime. If it's the second, she WILL do this again - to the same person, to another family member, or to a complete stranger. And, if she does it again, she will likely go to jail. If someone knew she was doing this and let it happen to someone else, they could be legally culpable if it ever came out (sued, accomplice, whatever).

The only loving and healthy thing you can do is to protect yourself and help her face the consequences (advocate for probation, be a character witness, have an intervention and arrange for rehab/therapy - whatever is necessary).

[Dewey]

Take it from someone who has been the victim of family identity theft, you have no choice but to turn her in.

You need to immediately place a fraud alert on your credit report to at least stop her access to your credit.

My husband's brother and wife stole my husband's ID, applied for a $100,000 line of credit, then obtained his signature by deception, paid on the line of credit for four years until they defaulted. We had no idea about this line of credit until the bank called and demanded it from us. His brother admitted it all, promised to pay it back, yada yada yada. My husband organized an intervention and it was clear they never had any intention of re-paying the fraud. We had no choice but to file a police report and then threaten to take them to civil court. Instead they signed a promissory note secured by a deed of trust and then filed for bankruptcy less than two months later.

Obviously, we filed an adversary proceeding and are in discovery. Ultimately, we know we will never collect from them, but it's about time someone makes them accept the consequences of their actions. By following this through, we have handed their problem back to them.

We have no relationship with these people and never will. They lied to our faces for more than four years, stole from us, and could have financially ruined us. They used our credit to fund elaborate and frequent vacations.

Certainly it may be a bit different with it being your mother rather than your sibling, but I think the betrayal is even worse.

I think you will find like we did that the district attorneys typically won't even touch these family fraud cases criminally. They recommend you pursue it civilly. So she likely will not get in any legal trouble anyway.

[frogger]

Hypothetical = Not ready to face reality.

We all want to help, however you must be ready to face a reality that may be harsh.