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You had to have given your husband power of attorney to act in your behalf while you were on deployment. That goes without saying, you gave him permission to use your name. So, hard lesson learned, expecially if in the future you find yourself in this same situation with another. You are responsible for paying off any bills if only in your name. If in both names, he is equally responsible for paying them off and should be asked for in your divorce decree. If a Judge makes him responsible in divorce then hang onto paper and present that in the future when you go to apply for a loan. It will be overlooked in your favor. Also have it put on your credit reports in comment section of that account, that you are not responsible for account due to court order. You can also contact the companies you owe money to and negotiate the payoff amount to 50% off, pay it and get them to send you a confirmation letter stating the loan has been paid/satisfied. Check your credit with all three bureaus, if they have not reported the account paid then dispute the amount and tell them it has been paid. The credit bureau will contact them and verify info and correct your credit and adjust your credit score, if they say you have not paid then send credit bureau a copy of letter and then they will fix your credit without further delay.Your credit report will show account paid by following month that is if the collection company notified the bureau. Note to the wise: Once you pay a collection service off and they have your money, they rarely do anything else for you, so just request a copy of all three credit bureau's each month and get into a habit of knowing what is happening to your credit each month. Also,You can negotiate the amount you owe on past due accounts turn over to credit bureau . Call the company if no phone number listed contact credit bureau and they will give you number to contact company that placed that on your bureau ,if they don't offer you a lesser amount to pay then ask them, if the employee says no, then ask to speak to their supervisor- you will get it- and it does not matter to credit bureau or future creditors, paid is paid, whether paid in full or paid negotiated amount.Stay alert, Idenity Theft is at an all time high in this country and gone undetected by you can ruin your life.The quicker you detect it the less damage they are able to do to you. And now you have an ex that knows your personal information and who knows who he has told. So stay involved with your credit bureau history each month. It is free, no reason to pay a company each month for what you can do for free. If you are still in the military and deployed for long periods at a time you might look into Idenity Protection Company that for a small mo. fee will keep your credit secure and if something happens to your credit they will stand good for any money lost or accounts opened up in your name that was not you. Even though you and your husband jointly opened accounts your credit and credit scores are kept separte under each of your social security numbers. Until you get the loan refinanced just into your name only then will only you get the credit. If stays in both names, both bureaus get reported whether it is a late payment or on tjme. Your divorce lawyer should have ask the judge to put in the divorce decree who was responsible for paying what. Good Luck!
