Embarassing financial problem

[swilshire]

My husband and I have very clean financial records and a credit score of well over 800. Never had any problem making a financial transaction. Our credit union just announced a new fee of $2 per month per account for some sort of mandatory identify theft program. We elected to move all the accounts for the family, which with all the kids is nine or so accounts.

Went to another credit union where I had a savings account left over from an old auto loan and applied for a checking account. To our amazement, we were turned down because of something appearing on some sort of consumer checking system they use. You have to order the report by mail to see what it is (the credit union won't tell you) but after some discussion I am pretty sure I know. It only shows on me, not my husband and all our own accounts are joint. I have one son who made a lot of very bad financial decisions when he went away to college and unfortunately my name was listed on his account. I'm sure he probably bounced checks and no telling what else, so this is affecting my record.

Has anyone had any experience with this and know what I'll need to do to clear my good financial name? Do all banks and credit unions use this type service? I never heard of it before. I wondered if it was worth the effort to just try a different bank.

Worst case scenario, we'll just have to leave our existing checking account in place and pay $2 a month, but this is very annoying.

Sheila

 

[bouncycat]

That is called Chexsystems. It is a report that the banks/credit unions do when opening a new accout to check for past account fraud. Since you were joint on your son's accounts, he defaulted with bad checks and didn't make good on them, the bank he was with closed his accounts and reported him and you. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do. If your son pays what's owed the bank, it will show as paid, but some places will still not honor the new account. I believe it stays on record for 7 years or so. Your best bet would be to stay with the current credit union you're with for now. $2 a month isn't bad, and if it IS for identity theft, it's a good cause. My bank that I work for goes thru EXTENSIVE research, man power, time, paper, etc for just ONE identity theft claim. So if they charge you, to help you if something were to happen, then it's not too bad. At least they don't charge $10 a month service charge like some banks do, and that doesn't go towards anything specific, just the bank's pocket. Sorry this has happened to you, I'm seeing it more and more with the economy the way it is. Get the report, and get on your son to make good on his old account, that's a start!!

 

[richs52]

Do you know the bank that your son had the bad checks with? If not, see if he remembers. This happened to me years ago (also a result of my wild college years), and I was able to go to the bank, make good on what I owed them, and then was able to open an account.

Good luck to you.

Rich

 

[NVDisMom]

Chexsystems is considered a credit reporting agency just like TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. They must provide you with a free report and you have the right to challenge anything in the report as inaccurate. When you challenge it Chexsystems will have to request the original creditor certify that the account as accurate. If the original creditor fails to do so the item must be removed from your record and you will be provided with this in writing. Go to creditboards.com and research Chexsystems. They have a lot of very good information on the whys and hows of taking care of these things.

 

[SmileWoman]

Contact Chex Systems, Inc.
Mail: Chex Systems, Inc.
Attn: Consumer Relations
7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100
Woodbury, MN 55125


Fax: 602.659.2197
Phone: 800.428.9623

 

[Minnesota!]

Contact Chex Systems, Inc.
Mail: Chex Systems, Inc.
Attn: Consumer Relations
7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100
Woodbury, MN 55125


Fax: 602.659.2197
Phone: 800.428.9623

This is about 5 miles from my house! Wonder why the area code is wrong??

Anyway -

This same thing happened to me recently. Although it was something from MY error. Still embarrassing!

 

[BeenHereB4]

If you got a denial letter from the bank you applied for the new account at, it should indicate the website/tele number where you can get the Chex System report. You can then decide to clear up whatever it is with the original bank. Unfortunately, after my divorce I had to do that too. The charge was a few hundred dollars, I paid the original bank and had them contact Chex system to remove the "flag". Took about a week and then I was all clear.

Good luck!

 

[MrsPooh]

I had a similar thing happen to me at a credit union when my dd was getting a new account and was going to put my name on the account. Our credit union used Telecheck to verify info and something came up with my SSN. I was given a number to call and Telecheck said that they had a report from another local Credit Union that I had written a bad check to them.

When they researched it the error was recorded under my name and SSN but the submission from the Credit Union did not have my name or SSN. I contacted the Credit Union that reported the problem and they had no idea what was going on but no record of me or my SSN.

They notified Telecheck of the error and it was removed from my name and SSN. During the three days it took to correct it I made sure I didn't try to write a check anywhere.

I hope you are able to clear this up easily.

 

[swilshire]

Thanks for the suggestions. The credit union made it sound like you could talk to someone or see the issues on line, but the only option however you contact them was to get the report mailed to you in five days.

I know the bank in question, but don't really want to enable my son by paying this debt for him. No idea how much it is until I see the information. He is unlikely to pay it since he's always digging himself into a new hole.

I suspect there is no error for me to dispute. Just a hard lesson in why you shouldn't let your name be associated with accounts for people who make bad decisions.

Sheila