Normal Money Habits Don’t Build Wealth

SPEAKER_1 (0:26)

We'll be right back.

Dave Ramsey (0:26)

We'll be right back. Angel Studios, this is The Ramsey Show. George Kamel, number one best-selling author, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Open phones here at 888-825-5225.

Dave is in Philadelphia. Hi, Dave, how are you?

SPEAKER_3 (0:44)

Doing good, Dave and George, how are you doing?

Dave Ramsey (0:46)

Better than we deserve, what's up?

SPEAKER_4 (0:49)

So I have my identity stolen, and someone just took out a student loan in my name. So I never attended the school, authorized a loan. I've already tried contacting a loan company, physically going to the college, filing a police report and disputing it, but the debt is still showing up in my name. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for situations like this.

Dave Ramsey (1:09)

Wow. Well, to start with, you're aware that if someone falsely uses your name, you're not liable for the debt. You know that, right?

SPEAKER_4 (1:18)

Yes.

Dave Ramsey (1:18)

Under any circumstances, do you pay this debt? Period. Okay. Typically, what happens in an identity theft situation is in order for the lender to do away with the account, they need some proof that it's a account, and you're going to have to have some interaction with them. Most of the time, you're going to file a police report, and you can send them a copy of the police report that says, this occurred, it's identity theft, it's fraudulent criminal activity, but you're going to have to figure out who to get in touch with.

Who's holding the loan?

SPEAKER_4 (1:53)

It's called Ed Financial is the name of the company.

SPEAKER_5 (1:57)

So is that a federal loan?

SPEAKER_4 (2:00)

I think, yeah. I think it's a federal loan organization.

George Kamel (2:02)

Okay, because there's separate paths.

SPEAKER_4 (2:03)

I think it's a federal loan.

George Kamel (2:05)

If it's a federal loan, you should be able to go to studentaid.gov, and I've seen this happen before, and there's something called a certification ID theft discharge, and you can file for that on studentaid.gov, and that might help the process to kind of bridge the gap between a police report and what you're dealing with.

Dave Ramsey (2:21)

Yeah, I would do that, and I would get a police report, and I would be in touch with the people holding the loan and badger the crud out of them until they get this thing fixed.

George Kamel (2:32)

I'm hoping you've frozen your credit since then with all three bureaus?

SPEAKER_4 (2:37)

I did freeze the credit, and I already took all the steps that you all recommended. So I was just curious if there's anything else you would suggest in doing it. Because I had to go back as far as, you might think it's crazy, but they made me pull my high school diploma to prove that I am who I say I am, even though someone else was able to easily get the loan in my name.

George Kamel (2:57)

Wow, how much was it for?

Dave Ramsey (2:58)

So why are they not taking it off if you did all that?

SPEAKER_4 (3:01)

It was for about $5,000 total.

Dave Ramsey (3:06)

Are they giving you any reason that they haven't done away with the loan and say, no, it's fraudulent?

SPEAKER_4 (3:12)

No, they haven't given me any reason that they haven't done away with it other than, you know, incompetence. I think it's in the same paperwork I've already sent you, you know, kind of thing.

Dave Ramsey (3:22)

And how long has this been going on?

SPEAKER_4 (3:25)

About six months, six months since I found out about it.

Dave Ramsey (3:28)

And you do not have Sanders Identity Theft Insurance, I'm sure, because you would have told me they were already handling it, right?

SPEAKER_4 (3:36)

No, no, I don't have any Identity Theft Insurance.

Dave Ramsey (3:39)

Well, this is the exact reason we endorse Sanders Identity Theft. It's not the notification.

The Identity Theft product that they have assigns a counselor to the case, a case worker, and they do all the crap. And they pound the lender until the lender removes the debt from your name and removes it from your credit report. And the follow through is, it's not that Identity Theft costs you any money because you don't owe any money. It's all the hours lost of your life that you can't get back dealing with morons that work for a student loan company and can't get their head out of their butt. That's the problem.

SPEAKER_7 (4:16)

That's where I'm at with it too, right?

SPEAKER_4 (4:17)

You know, it's been hours and hours ago.