Consumer complaint received 2017-07-21
Company: Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Counties
State: OR
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
Over 15 years ago I lived in California with my girlfriend, XXXX XXXX and her XXXX children, XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX. While I would be at work XXXX would take her children to various doctors for unknown reasons, and instead of putting herself or the children 's father ( XXXX XXXX, he lives in XXXX Texas ) as the " RESPONSIBLE PARTY '', she wrote down my name and my address. She would then access the mailbox each day and intercept any bills that arrived for her children and discard them so that I had no knowledge of them. Eventually XXXX stole my car, filled the trunk with the most expensive electronics in the house, and drove to Texas with her children to be reunited with her ex-husband. The last I heard XXXX had XXXX XXXX. ( XXXX : XXXX ) I first learned about the medical expenses for XXXX XXXX and XXXXXXXX XXXX children after the bills had been consolidated into lump sums and given to The Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo County , XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX , CA XXXX, ( XXXX ) XXXX. I immediately called the Bureau and explained the situation, and I was told that although I was not technically responsible for the medical bills that the Bureau had already spoken with XXXX, and she did not care about her credit - but, by the fact that I was calling about the debt, it indicated that I DID care about my own credit score, and therefore the Credit Bureau would be taking action against me to damage my credit until I paid the medical expenses for XXXXXXXX XXXX and XXXXXXXX XXXX  children in full. I did not have the money to the expenses, and I also thought it odd that a company could legally take action against me for debt that is not my own. Sure enough my FICO dropped from the near XXXX to the XXXX. I could not even get a job as employers check FICO scores and use it as a determining factor in the hiring process. Over 15 years later I am still receiving notices that new and additional actions have been taken against my credit score by The Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo. My score is still in the high XXXX after all these years, solely because of actions taken by The Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo. Last night I searched on them for a contact number and I came across a TON of articles claiming the " Credit Bureau '' is actually just a privately-owned business owned by a local area man who purchases debts from the county and then attempts to recoup the money through all legal as well as illegal means. Basically two things happened here - I was the victim of a form of identity theft, and then I became a victim of a corrupt business called The Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo. I am married these days with a XXXX year old daughter now. I still can not find a job because my FICO has not risen in the past 15 years because of The Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo. I 'll be XXXX years old this year and am concerned that this company will keep my credit damaged until the day I XXXX unless someone intervenes and stops them. What they are doing should be illegal in my opinion, and the amount of money and stress this has caused me and my wife and our daughter is beyond estimation. My family and I have suffered on welfare because of The Credit Bureau of San Luis Obispo and their actions taken against me on behalf of debt that I have absolutely nothing to do with.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation