How much is your good credit worth? If an identity thief wrecked your credit without stealing a single penny, how much money does owe you?
That’s the question facing Brevard County Prosecutor Joseph Downing this week when he hears the identity theft case David Welch filed against Kevin Landivar.
There’s an endless supply of bad landlord stories, but Welch’s story might be the strangest.
According to police, it all started when Welch was moving out of the house he’d rented for two years in Plantation, FL. Welch refused to pay the $200 fee his landlord, Landivar, wanted him to pay for listing the property with a Realtor … who just happened to be Landivar’s brother.
And then the flood of credit card and loan applications started pouring into Welch’s mailbox and his email inbox. He started getting calls from people who said they were responding to his request for a cash advance.
And then Welch’s credit dropped 170 points; too many credit inquiries will do that. When he was unable to increase the credit line for his business, he had to lay off employees and leave bills, rent and taxes unpaid. Plans to open another business had to be jettisoned.
“When I tell you I almost lost this business, I’m not exaggerating,” he said. “I was literally days away from saying I’ve got to close this down.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever gone through. It devastated me.”
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I can’t believe that someone would do that to someone else. Just to get back at him he tried to close the man’s business that would effect all of his employees! I would rather the guy just steal the money from me than try and ruin my credit. That’s just not right.
I’ll bet the landlord was so stupid he thought that as long as he didn;t actually open the new accounts he wasn’t breaking the law! If he’d try to get his tenant to pay $200 to list with his brother, I wouldn’t put anything past him!
That Jerk I can’t believe someone would do that over a measly amount of $200 bucks. I mean some people just can’t control their anger. No matter how angry I got I wouldn’t resort to doing something illegal.
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