Suing CA's and OC's

[Conspiracist1169]

This is regarding identity theft.

After 3 years, the person who stole my wifes identity theft has finally gone to prison.

I have Police Reports and certified Court Documents with all of the information to prove my case - hence the theft going to prison.

Now it's time to clean up the credit reports. I've challenged all of the creditors on the credit reports, and told them this is a case of ID theft. Some still refuse to acknowledge this, even with copies of the court documents.

Should I seek the assistance of an attorney and sue them? Or can I do this myself in Small Claims. If I can do this in Small Claims, how much can I ask for?

[DocDon]

FACTA was supposed to take care of that:

From the FTC:

A provision that will require credit reporting agencies to stop reporting allegedly fraudulent account information when a consumer establishes that he or she has been the victim of identity theft;

I'm having trouble finding where this is in the Act.

Anyone?

[Sultan]

FACTA was supposed to take care of that:

From the FTC:

A provision that will require credit reporting agencies to stop reporting allegedly fraudulent account information when a consumer establishes that he or she has been the victim of identity theft;

I'm having trouble finding where this is in the Act.

Anyone?

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/06/factaidt.htm

* A provision that will require credit reporting agencies to stop reporting allegedly fraudulent account information when a consumer establishes that he or she has been the victim of identity theft;

Sounds like you need to send the documents to the CRA's and sidestep the CA's, or creditors.

[Xanathos]

This was the exact problem I ran into (except they never caught my thief). I feel your pain there. The CA's all took a stance of "Well, it looks like this isn't really your account...but we want you to pay us anyways".

Most CA's and OC's you can sue on your own with no problems. There are some that are actually arrogant enough to try and fight the suit just so they don't "look" like they took on an ID theft account. Those you might want to retain counsel for.

Generally small claims limits are 5 grand. If your wife has ever been denied a car loan or a mortgage or some credit, you can just sue for the maximum under actual damages...the statutory damages vary depending on violations. You can usually expect to square up with a CA for about 2 grand per settlement on average.

[Conspiracist1169]

I'm debating if I should bring an attorney in on this or not.

I don't really have the money for an attorney, but the case will be easy for one to clear up.

I have documentation signed by the identity theif, when they purchased automobiles, etc. under my wifes name. That signature clearly matches the court documentation in which their signature appears.

If I can take this through small claims, that would probably be the easiest.

But how can I determine how much my damages are? This may seem like a stupid question but I don't know how to place a dollar value on all of this.

All advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

[Guest]

What area do you live in??

I think.. ((Personally)) your best bet if you can prove actual damages.. such as denials on mortgages and car loans is to get an attorney.

There are consumer law attorneys out there who work on contingency...you just have to look hard.

As to the smaller CAs and OCs.. if you werent denied credit.. well I would just sue them in small claims for the maximum amount you can.. 90% of them will settle before you ever get to court..

I bet 5% would default and the remaining 5 would fight your suit.

Sounds like good odds to me

Good luck!!