Update: 18-year-old’s parents open 3 credit cards in son’s name, now he’s $15,000 in debt

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jun 28, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Talk about unforgivable parenting! Most kids end up spending the rest of their lives unpacking the emotional turbulence of their adolescent years. In an ideal world, that drama is minimal and not much more than the average issues most emerging adults have to process. Hopefully, no one else has to deal with this author's current struggle.

At 18 years old, this guy is now over $15,000 in debt with his credit score completely altered after his parents opened multiple credit cards in his name without his approval in order to pay for household expenses. Their justification for their actions was that their son wouldn't be trying to buy a house any time soon, and hopefully by that time, his credit score would bounce back. However, this guy is trying to work for the government, and filing for bankruptcy would completely impact his opportunities moving forward. Keep scrolling through for the full saga and for the subsequent update for the author after he filed a report against his own parents.

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    Ravalus 2 JOHANNES VISA
    via CardMapr.nl

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

  • Look, no one wants to create legal battles with the people that brought them into this world, but as several members of the online community pointed out to the author, identity theft is identity theft. He needed to do what he had to in order to protect his own financial future from his irresponsible parents. He also needed to get out of their house as soon as possible!

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    Parents opened up several credit cards in my name while I was away at college. They racked up more than $15,000 in debt and now they want me to kick me out because I brought it up.
    via Parental-problematic
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    I guess this is a lesson in paying attention to my finances. After having just finished my freshman year of college, I came back to my parents' house for the summer.
    via Parental-problematic
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    My mom made it a habit on Monday/Tuesday to make sure she got the mail before I had a chance, even running from the kitchen Tuesday to make sure I didn't get it as I was expecting an Amazon order.
    via Parental-problematic
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    Today, the mail came kind of early and there was a letter from a collection agency addressed to me. I only knew it was a collection agency once I opened it and discovered I supposedly owed nearly $5000 on a Capital One card
    via Parental-problematic
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    I had no idea I was ever signed up for. Once I got done freaking out, I called my dad at work and asked him what to do. It was weird when he said to talk to my mother about it. He didn't seem happy at all but I didn't think much of it.
    via Parental-problematic
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    Once my mom got home, I asked her about it and she said her and my dad opened up a few credit cards in my name for household expenses. She said she thinks I owe around $10,000 to three different credit card companies. I checked my credit and it turns out I owe over $15,000.
    via Parental-problematic
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    We ended up having a huge argument about it with my mom saying her parents did this to her when she was 18. She said that I could file for bankruptcy and that it wouldn't hurt me because I
    via Parental-problematic
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    wouldn't be trying to a buy a house for several years. I'm interested in going into a government-related job and a bankruptcy would probably disqualify me for it. She knows this
    via Parental-problematic
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    but it doesn't seem like she cares. My dad got home a couple of hours ago and they talked to me together. Either I can declare bankruptcy once they spend up to the credit limit of the last card with any credit on it, or they said I could move out at the end of the month.
    via Parental-problematic
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    via Adrian Swancar

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

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    It just feels like its incredibly unfair because it doesn't sound like bankruptcy will actually do anything for my credit and probably sink my job opportunities. How can I get my credit score back to where it was, which was around 720, and how can I get this to not affect my credit going forward?
    via Parental-problematic
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    CheckingOut2024. That's identity theft. It's a felony. The ball is in your court. You could easily have them arrested and you can lien their property.
    via Parental-problematic
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    arochains1231. Sounds like you need to make a criminal report for identity theft. Tell your banks, freeze your credit, make those reports.
    via Parental-problematic
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    Update: I ended up taking the advice of the vast majority of people here and I filed a police report. The officer took some printouts of everything as evidence. Once I had the report, I called all of the places listed on my report and gave them the report number. The three credit card companies all took it and were pretty cool with it. The collection agency wanted me to make a goodwill
    via Parental-problematic
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    payment so they could start investigating my claim that it was fraudulent. They said they could still sue me even with a police report if I didn't cooperate with their fraud report. I refused obviously as I don't want them to be able to take money out of my bank account.
    via Parental-problematic
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    I never told my parents that I went to the police and for a couple of weeks, they had no idea. Right after Memorial Day they received a call from a detective and everything blew up. After the call, they began screaming at me and my dad started literally throwing my things out
    via Parental-problematic
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    of the door. I called the police at that time and they showed up and told my parents if they wanted me to leave, they would have to evict me. I came home from work the next day and the locks were changed. I called the police again and my parents refused to open the door and said all of my stuff was at my grandparents' house. I received another report number for the unlawful eviction, which I was told was a civil issue, and got my stuff from my grandparents'.
    via Parental-problematic
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    Luckily, I have a friend with a couple of spare bedrooms and she said I'm welcome to stay with her for a couple of months. I'm scheduled to move in to my own place in about a week. Once I get a full tally of the total cost of everything included in moving, I'll be filing a civil lawsuit against my parents for the unlawful eviction.
    via Parental-problematic
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    I was told my the same detective my parents didn't seem very truthful with anything and the state's attorney's office will be in concact in the next few weeks regarding identity theft charges.
    via Parental-problematic
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    He said he believes they will likely prosecute, possibly as soon as this week. If that's the case, they, or more likely just my mom, will be issued a warrant and have to spend at least a night in jail. No matter what, I feel as though I made the right choice.
    via Parental-problematic

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family drama entitled parents family feud parenting entitled people karma update family Parenting Fail parents entitled people
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