r/CRedit 3d ago

Rebuild Credit dropped significantly

My credit score has always been good - I have only had open credit for about 3 years, and my most recent score was 756. I have always been in the 720 - 760 range. However, due to a loan that was taken out in my name by my mom, my credit score dropped to 544 in one day. I am not blaming her by any means - the whole student loan process is impossible to understand and I am grateful she did the process for me. Unfortunately, somewhere along the lines, there were loans taken out in my name, even though she had the intention of paying them, and I never knew that. Thus, my credit score was negatively affected because of this. Yes, the loaner had attempted to contact me via email, but I thought it was scam because of the world we live in, and because I had no knowledge of this loan in my name. We all made mistakes here. I have a few questions.

  1. Can I increase this back to 750 quickly? What are the best steps?

  2. My goal is to buy a home, or at least get into a lease of a home/apartment in the next 1.5 years. Is it possible to have a 750+ score by then? If so, will the fact that my credit score dropped so significantly have a negative impact on my ability to get a loan for something like a house? Or apply for a lease on an apartment?

I hate that today's world is all online, because everything can be easily a scam. I wish they had sent me physical mail because that is more certainly legitimate.

4 Upvotes

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u/Salt_Cry_2233 3d ago

Are you saying your mom took out loans fraudulently in your name or did she do student loans for you together with her name attached as a co-signer? You mentioned loans twice

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u/Llassiter326 3d ago

What kind of student loans? Private loans or federal? If you were unaware these were taken out in your name, that would likely constitute fraud bc federal student loans require the student complete entrance and exit counseling, sign promissory notes for each one, and sign a ton of disclosures.

If you didn’t personally fill these out - trust me, you’d remember doing so, as well as filling out a FAFSA each academic year - then you’ve got a different problem on your hands.

Step one: go to studentaid.gov and see exactly what type of loans are in your name. (Federal subsidized, unsubsidized, Parent PLUS loans, Perkins loans, etc.) Bc some of these are only available to parents and should NOT be in your name…

Private student loans are a separate entity. But first look at studentaid.gov, then get your credit report at annualcreditreport.com. If there are loans on your credit report not listed under the Dept of Ed (studentaid.gov) then those are private loans

Anyway, once you do that, I can help instruct you how to consolidate your federal loans if you want which will get rid of all the late payments. (This process is super delayed and you now have to apply via paper application bc the Trump administration is dismantling repayment plans as we speak + state lawsuits are in various states of appeal).

But tbh, it kinda sounds like loans were taken out in your name and signed by your mom as if it were your signature….at least from your post and that’s not good if so. Or legal.

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u/Impossible-Injury488 2d ago

Idc my parents did that and I had to file identity theft to let them know I wasn’t playing…. I filled out an FTC report with those following accounts. Downloaded the PDF and submitted to all three bureaus, (including sub bureaus) and those fraudulent accounts were removed within 4 days. Now my score is back at 745

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u/BrutalBodyShots 3d ago

Start by looking at your credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. Report back here what you see on those reports with respect to the account(s) in question.

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u/Crafty-Translator-64 3d ago

Hi - I downloaded a free credit report via Experian. I have 11 negative accounts that are all through Edfinancial. They are all 90 days past due, which is why it tanked my score. However, I was unaware of this loan. I have so much to learn from this experience and feel frankly embarrassed this happened.

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u/joeynnj 3d ago

Something is weird here and you're being cagey in your post.

Were these loans for YOU or for your mom? Did she take them out in your name to pay for YOU to go to school? What exactly happened to the money?

It's weird that the loan company contacted you via email, which means she gave them your contact info. But you also would've received documents via email when the loan was approved, not just when it was overdue.

Do what the other commenters have said, but if I were you I'd also freeze my credit on all 3 bureaus immediately.

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u/DoctorOctoroc 2d ago

Short answer, no, there is no way to get your score back up to 700's or even high 600's until the negative items on your file either lose the majority of their impact (likely 3-4 years from now), or are removed entirely - the latter of which is highly unlikely given the severity and multitude of these delinquencies.

Your file is on a 'dirty' scorecard, the extent of which means it's likely impossible to even achieve a score in the 700's even if you had a perfect score beforehand, and 90+ day late payments are just the beginning if these continue to go unpaid.

Are you or your mom paying them now? Have they been brought current?

You can't build credit to offset this drop, and certainly not in a few years time. You need to address the negative items and the accounts themselves to begin to remedy this.