What to do if someone steals your identity
Identity theft and mortgages? You’d be surprised how often someone finds out that they are a victim of identity theft when they are in the middle of applying for a mortgage! There are two points in the mortgage loan process that will immediately alert you to the fact that your identity has been stolen the pre-approval process and the mortgage application. This can cause months of delays, not to mention a tremendous amount of stress.
So what can you do if someone steals your identity?
The Federal Trade Commission of Consumer Information (www.consumer.ftc.gov) suggests that the FIRST thing you should do when you find out that your identity has been stolen is to go to
Here’s a video from Identity Theft . GOV to show you how it works
You should immediately report identity theft and then the next steps are to get a recovery plan and to put that plan into action.
IdentityTheft.gov is the federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims! The resources include lists of things-to-do, sample letters that you can use, and other helpful resources to help you know-your-rights and much more.
The “plan” includes a list of things that you should do right away, a list of things you can do to help repair the damage, and some additional things to look into. You can find all these STEPS on their website.