Ad-hoc credit law pro
In Spring 2012-2013 I encountered a period of unemployment that ended up being one of the best learning experiences of my life. This was due to a fraud situation where my name was listed as a co-signer on a credit card I never owned effectively leaving me in debt for $9000 to a collections agency. As a result of my poor credit score I could not obtain a loan to continue my education.
I moved to North Carolina to be near family where I worked as a cashier for a number of months while I researched credit law, specifically the conditions under which a person is allowed to be a cosigner on a card and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Without the assistance of a lawyer, I successfully fought the credit bureaus and the collections agency owning the fraudulent account by pointing out specific stipulations in credit reporting acts that brought to light the illegality of leaving my name on this false account. After six months of interfacing with the corporate staff at the collections agency and the bank originally in charge of the account, I assuaged myself of responsibility for the account and continued on my career path in public service with Catholic Charities and into graduate school.