Woman discovers parents secretly took out $14,000 in student loans in her name, leaving her in debt with a destroyed credit score

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Feb 23, 2025 8:00 PM EST

If cinema taught us anything is that when we hear a terrifying sound we should prepare for a jump scare: the creak of a door in a horror movie, the shuffle of a zombie in the woods, and, perhaps worst of all, the ping of an email alerting you that your credit score has fallen 200 points overnight. This isn't a ghost story. It's the tale of a financial nightmare starring the least likely monsters.

Imagine living your life, thinking everything is fine, only to discover your financial future has been bitten by a vampire loan you didn't even know existed. Your once healthy credit score is now pale and lifeless, drained of all vitality. These vampires aren't lurking in some abandoned castle, they're living in your childhood home and insisting they had no idea their actions sent your finances to sleep in a coffin. 

One unlucky survivor stumbled across this real-life apocalypse. For months, mysterious emails about unpaid student loans clawed at her inbox like zombies scratching at the door. She dismissed them as spam until the truth broke through like it's hungry for braaaiiiin.

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  • "My parents took out loans in my name and claim they didn’t know…now I’m in debt with a ruined credit score"

    "Mom sent a passive-aggressive text: 'Relax""
    via Iuliia Zavalishina

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Hi everyone. I'm going to try to give as much context as I can while not making this too long. To begin, my parents and I have always had an emotionally charged relationship. In high school I never felt seen or heard
    via athleti-hoe

  • Her parents, the ones sworn to protect her, had secretly taken out $14,000 in loans in her name, let them rot, and unleashed a horde of debt collectors onto her once-pristine credit score. When confronted, they didn’t stake the problem or barricade the fallout—they shrugged and mumbled about "figuring it out." 

  • school I never felt seen or heard by them and expressed this, literally begging them to just tell me they're proud of me here and there. They accused me of being snippy and argumentative, and I was bc I was often hurt by their neglect while my siblings received more coddling and emotional caretaking.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Then, freshman year of college I had moved away several hours to my dream school and to claim independence. I deliberately worked so I could have my own money bc I never wanted to have to ask them even though I knew they would if I would just ask.
    via athleti-hoe
  • They have good jobs and make a well above average amount for middle class. My first year we got into fights bc I never reached out to them or called. They never texted or called either so this seemed out of nowhere at the
    via athleti-hoe
  • time. It should be said that I've also never had a close connection with them that allowed me to share personal life details. I never felt safe enough to confide things in them based on past experiences.
    via athleti-hoe
  • My sophomore year was wretched and I had horrible relationship issue that were compounded by the isolation of 2020 co id and being confined to a dorm room. There was a time
    via athleti-hoe
  • after I had met with an advisor and it hadn't gone well and I called my mom sobbing telling her I think about dying. There was little to no sympathy and the conversation was turned toward how my political beliefs differ
    via athleti-hoe
  • from her and my dads (a common point of contention). Later that year the election came up and I reposted a screen grab of a parks and rec episode on Facebook. The meme had the subtitles changed so that Ron
    via athleti-hoe
  • Swanson said the only mental illness he had in his family was "an uncle who believes Trump is the second coming of Christ”. In the comments on the post my dad and aunt accused me of hating my great uncle that served in a war. My dad commented that
    via athleti-hoe
  • Cheezburger Image 10471013632
    via Icons8 Photos

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • I should just pay for school myself if I wanted to disrespect them like that. I then texted him stating that his comments hurt my feelings. This all later resulted in a huge fight where they said they would no longer pay for my schooling like they had my
    via athleti-hoe
  • siblings. I told them if they are going to behave this way then I wasn't coming home for the holidays. I immediately looked into community colleges in the area, apartments, and was going
    via athleti-hoe
  • to go full time as a CNA and drop out bc I knew I could never afford the loans or tuition. They later apologized on FaceTime but things have never been the same.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Now I have always been grateful to my parents for paying for my school. I was given a chance to start my life with an education and debt free which is miles ahead of others. But they've always used this as leverage over me. Guilt and shame are their favorite tools for getting what they want.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Fast forward to today. Our relationships have been strained over the years but we've gradually built connection. I still live several hours away but I see them pretty regularly and my current fiance and I have been on several camping trips with them,
    via athleti-hoe
  • and my fiance even asked my dad's permission to marry me. My mom is making all of the flowers for my wedding and they've given us money to put toward the event. Things have been going pretty well! Until yesterday. For several months I
    via athleti-hoe
  • had been receiving emails from an "EdFinancial" about loans being behind on payments, and just recently being reported as delinquent. I thought they were spam as I had no notion of having student loans. I asked my dad and he said it was likely spam as they did not take loans out.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Yesterday, I received an email from the credit union that I got my first CC with when I was 18 (that my mom is co-signed with). This was saying that I took a serious hit to my credit score due to delinquent accounts. Come to
    via athleti-hoe
  • find out there are $14,000 of student loans that have not been getting paid for months and my credit score went from 750 to 550 overnight. Incredibly alarmed and scared I reached out to my parents. They blew it off and didn't give me any answers.
    via athleti-hoe
  • I later called my dad and he was immediately angry at me while I sobbed on the phone. I tried to explain to him that I wasn't angry at them but at the situation and I'm just scared and confused how I suddenly have all of these debts
    via athleti-hoe
  • and my credit score is ruined. He accused me of be ungrateful for all the money they put toward my college and said that $14k isn't even that big of a deal. I explained to him that maybe it's
    via athleti-hoe
  • not but it is when it comes out of nowhere, is nearly half of my annual income, and almost the entire amount of my life savings. I've done everything right and always paid my bills on time, saved money and been good.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Now it's all meaningless. I explained how this happening on top of getting married this fall, taking over my insurance and hoping to get into nursing school is detrimental. My fiance and I wanted to get a house and start a family in the next 5-8 years and
    via athleti-hoe
  • now it feels hopeless. I told him that if I had known about the loans I would have been paying them. He then responded by twisting my words and accusing me of claiming that I never would
    via athleti-hoe
  • have gone to school if I had had to get loans. I corrected him and told him that I never said that, only that I would have paid them if I had known.
    via athleti-hoe
  • 00
    via ADragan
  • Of course my mom took his side and said I need to call my undergrads financial office and figure out the payments (which I had no experience with or part in setting up) and sort this out myself. When I asked for help they avoided answering and said
    via athleti-hoe
  • I need to call the bank and dispute it myself. They claim no knowledge of the loans but after I did research they do check out and are legit FAFSA/government loans.
    via athleti-hoe
  • I paid what I could yesterday. I later texted them "I'm not trying to fight I just would have appreciated some sympathy over this situation. I'm sure you guys can understand that this is a scary thing to have to deal with when I wasn't expecting it" which was met with more passive aggressive
    via athleti-hoe
  • from my mom: "we were trying also. Relax, you will get answers and a plan. I'm just not sure what we were supposed to say to you." To which I said: "Just an "I'm sorry this is happening" would have
    via athleti-hoe

  • A loan that'll haunt you for the rest of your life

    Cheezburger Image 10471013888
    via Thalia Ruiz

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • been fine" and the conversation finished with this text from her: "Well we are sorry. We wish you didn't have to deal with this. We have tried to make your lives easier than we had.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Now the current issue is idk where to go from here. I made it clear to my parents that I do not expect them to pay the loans, I just wish that they would be sympathetic to the situation, support me emotionally, and maybe just apologize for taking out loans unknowingly? They've
    via athleti-hoe
  • sent three kids to college now and I'd think they would have known. My fiance wants to go no contact and remove their invitation to the wedding. He is on my side and is furious over how they've treated me all my life compared to my siblings. My
    via athleti-hoe
  • older sister is the only one of the three of us who also knows about this rn and she is very sympathetic, but she still lives with them and I'm sure will want to preserve their relationship as much as she can which is understandable. I just don't know what to do. I scheduled with my
    via athleti-hoe
  • therapist who has helped me with all of this. I'm tempted to just trash the whole wedding and elope like we originally wanted to but my fiance isn't sure about that at this point...any advice is helpful...
    via athleti-hoe
  • Narrow Grapefruit_23 You need to file a police report and talk to the bank about how a loan was taken out in your name with your identification without you signing any legal documents. Then you need to cut your parents off for good. The fact they denied, lied, and then tried to say they took out the loans for you is unacceptable. You don't do that to your children.
    via athleti-hoe
  • Also freeze your credit and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Where there is one misuse of your identity, there will be three more.
    via athleti-hoe

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