Can my parent take out loans in my name without asking me?

Paying for College
1

So my dad is a deadbeat. Within the last year, he has racked up over 23k in credit card debt, he doesn’t pay bills, and he has been emotionally, physically, and financially abusive to my family for years. He is also in charge of all my financial aid documents and doesn’t let me have any access to financial information. He never even let my mom have her own bank account. Long story short siblings and mom now have a protective order against him for 6 months and are probably going to lose their house because things are so bad.

He has never let me have access to our family’s tax documents so I was never able to look at my fafsa myself except to sign it. He told me I am paying for my college myself and that the loans are taken out in my name, and I thought that was fairly normal, but recently I realized that I have never seen or signed any loan paperwork.

I have asked him how much in loans we took out, and asked him many times to sit down with me and explain how paying back my tuition is going to work, but every time I asked he made me feel stupid and never gave me a straight answer. I used to think feeling this clueless about my financial situation was normal, or that I was just stupid, but now I realize it was part of the abuse.

If he took the loans out without my permission, is that fraud? If he took out too much in loans (which he has done before in other situations to use the extra money for himself), is there any way to absolve my responsibility for the money, or at least the parts that I did not need? Thanks.

2

“If he took the loans out without my permission, is that fraud?” if they’re in your name, or supposedly co-signed with him, then yes, that is incredibly illegal.

3

You can certainly get yourself a credit report at Credit Karma and see exactly what’s in your name. I assume your mom has a lawyer, she can add this to the list of stuff for him/her to deal with.

4

If you did not sign the loan application and you have the debt in your name then it’s a fraud.

5

If he used FAFSA to get student loans, the Stafford loans would be in your name up to the maximums for your grade level ($5500, $6500), but those would be applied to your tuition, fees, billed costs first. If he took out parents’ Plus loans, those are in his name.

If you never signed loan papers for private loans, you are not responsible, but in order to get out of loans for fraud you often have to sign an affidavit that you didn’t take out the loans and that can cause criminal problems for whoever did. Many family members are unwilling to do this if it means someone will be charged (often it is a parent, a spouse, a child who has used a name an SSN).

You need to take charge. He doesn’t have to do your FAFSA, your mother could. If you are concerned about how much you have in Stafford loans, look on your school portal. Go into your FA office and ask them to help you view your accounts. I’m sure you signed a form to let him have access to your financial information at school. Withdraw it. Change your passwords.

6

I don’t believe that links can be posted on this site. Do a google search for free credit reports. There is one site that will allow you to get a free copy of credit report from each of three major credit bureaus. You get one free copy per year. Any loans should be listed.

And yes it is fraud and a crime.

7

Regarding credit reports: it’s important that OP regularly monitor their report but if the loans were only recently taken out, they may not show up yet. I know that credit card applications can take several months to appear.

@AllAmerican7247 - you can also look into something called a credit lock or credit freeze which will make it more difficult for other people to take out loans and credit cards in your name.

But first things first…are you safe? Are you included in the protective order with your mother and siblings?

8

Look into this ASAP. He may have used some of the $ elsewhere or lied on the apps, both of which could impact you later, esp if you signed.

9

@Otterma I am not included because I was in China at the time of its filing, and still am as of now. But I really appreciate the information you and others have provided… I thought until literally days ago that this was totally normal and I suddenly realized that it isn’t at all and I couldn’t believe how I had never seen it before… if necessary I will look into legal action but for now I have to see what the situation is using the tools mentioned on this forum ><

10

As I understand it, you can’t legally be held to any loans that you didn’t sign or electronically sign. You may have to prove that you didn’t take those loans out. If you weren’t physically with your dad when these loans were taken out (in another state, country, etc), you may be able to more easily prove this. Of course, your dad could get into serious legal issues, but sounds like he’s already up to his neck with issues.

11

Since your mom and you have separated from dad then his info shouldn’t be on your FAFSA. You should be using mom’s info…even if she has no income.

12

Could the fact that OP is in China now and was not part of the protective order complicate things? Father could claim that OP remained in his custody after the separation. Also, would the date of the separation be an issue?

13

@mom2collegekids even if they not divorced, his info should not be on there? We already turned in the fasfa (very recently, I was waiting because I wasn’t sure what to do but was told… by him, I am now realizing with a sinking stomach… that we needed to get it finished asap)… should I do it again, or just contact financial aid directly?

14

FAFSA defines things as of the date of filing. You did you live with (spend most nights with) for the 365 days before filing. Your case may be complicated if they were living together the last time you were home, but if your mother is the head of your ‘home’ (where you consider your home) then you’d use only her information. You can’t refile, but you can correct your FAFSA filing.

15

I spoke to my sister, and it turns out my mom is not covered either. My mom had a short term protective order (2 weeks) and was supposed to extend it to two years but then she changed her mind at the last second because she claimed she believed she could keep him away (she couldn’t) and didn’t want him to lose his job over this (abuse does funny things to your mind and makes you make decisions you probably would not have otherwise).

So my sister, 17, had to go to court against both of my parents in order to get a protective order for herself and our siblings (15 and 13) lasting 6 months, which will keep him away for at least that long.

However, I believe my mom still wants to be with him after that time (she has some pretty severe mental health issues and is very, very obsessed with him), though I sincerely hope she does not because it would be putting my family in danger. It would not be the first time, though. CPS is aware of the situation and a judge has said she will take the kids away if he enters the house or is in any contact with them.

I don’t know. I don’t have any financially or personally responsible adults in my life and I am feeling very lost right now. I am really angry at my parents for constantly putting themselves over their children. I am mad at my father for the abuse, but I think I am equally mad at my mom for allowing it to go on for so long despite the advice and help of friends, family, lawyers, etc, refusing to recognize her own role in the situation (believe me, she was way more than a helpless victim in this situation, though that is a very long story), and for STILL wanting to find a way to make it work even now, after everything…

Anyway, despite everything, my heart does not want to go through the process of pursuing legal action and absolving my responsibility for the loans unless it is totally necessary (he took out a lot of extra loans, etc), but I also don’t want to let a guy who has been extremely shitty to me for my whole life just get away with something illegal and be responsible for the consequences and hundreds of dollars a month for years to come… The thought of graduating with no student loan payments is extremely appealing to me, as financial independence is a huge source of stress for me because I never ever want to (not to mention physically cannot) depend on my parents for anything and want to limit my contact with them as much as possible after graduation… but for some reason I feel like I would be tricking the system somehow or taking advantage of something I don’t deserve… not to mention I would feel bad if my dad went to jail, though the more I find out the more it appears he may be going down that route anyway.

If you guys were me, would you pursue the legal route even if the loans are not a crazy amount higher than what I would have filed for myself? Would I be a deadbeat or overreacting if I were to absolve my responsibility for these loans? Does anyone know what this process would look like or how long it would take or if I would need a lawyer/how much that would cost?

Sorry for the long posts. It’s a very confusing situation. I am very sad and frustrated.

16

<<<
even if they not divorced, his info should not be on there?
<<<

does not matter if they’re not divorced.

If your mom has separated from him, and you and mom are NOT living with dad, then you don’t use dad’s info.

17

Only you can make the decision of whether to pay off loans, should you find any, that you didn’t incur. How old are you? How many semesters have you been in college, and how many loans did your father take in your name? Are they only the Stafford loans which were used for your tuition? Then probably not an issue. A credit card in your name and SSN? Yes, an issue.

You need to find out what your situation is through your school, and you need to pull a general credit report and see what is on there. If there are things you didn’t sign for, you need to have those removed from your record - and that might require you to file a fraud report.

You said you are in China. When are you returning? Will you be going directly to college? Which adult helped your sibling get their restraining order (because 3 minor children did not get one without an adult involved)?

Work on one issue at a time. How much in student loans are YOU responsible for?

18

@twoinanddone

I am 19. I have been enrolled for 5 semesters and have three left as I am taking this semester off right now in China. I know a parent plus loan was taken out, I don’t know about stafford. I think a number I heard for my freshman year was something around $30k in loans but I am not sure.

After China I am trying to get a job or internship somewhere away from home, but so far I have heard nothing and have no idea how I am going to pay for anything. I return to school in late August. And I am not sure who exactly helped them get the order - I know my sisters mom drove them there, I know an abuse counselor walked her through the process, I know she had a public attorney appointed to her, but I do not know whose name is on the document.

19

You are not responsible for the Plus loans. You probably only have a $5500 from freshman year and $6500 from sophomore. Pull up your information on your student portal at the school. Look at each year and see what financial aid was posted to your account. The money would have applied to your bill first, so it is unlikely your father took it.

20

You’re not responsible for the Parent Plus loan, so if your dad tries to get you to pay it, you don’t have to pay it. It’s HIS loan.

You may have a Direct Loan (they’re not really called Stafford loans anymore). That would be yours.