CSUN: FAFSA Fraud?

I don’t respect my stepmother because she disrespects me.

I have outstanding grades and am a dean’s lister. I received 11k+ from FAFSA and I worked hard for it. I have lived with my mother since I was 2 years old. But since my mother said my dad is also my legal custodian, I used their tax info (my dad’s and stepmom’s) and address. My stepmom insists that I should have asked for her consent. She bothers me a lot and sends text messages even during class, accusing me and my real parents that we all committed fraud. I believe she just wants to rule our lives. She claims that I can be expelled and imprisoned, and that I have been causing trouble to the family.

I have been studying hard, but she just wants to find faults. She doesn’t stop telling me to “correct my mistakes before it’s too late.”

Where can I report this and what should I do to make her stop?

FAFSA does validate against IRS records. You are supposed to submit the SSN of the person claiming you as a dependent of their 1040. If stepmom is that person, you’ve done the right thing and have nothing to worry about. If someone else claims you as a dependent, you should be using their SSN. It would take a pretty egregious and intentional situation for it to become a criminal matter. If you need to change the number, stop into the Fin Aid office at your college and have them walking through making the change.

Is your stepmother paying anything for your college? Is she a custodial parent?

FAFSA will fix the mistakes if there are any. Believe me.

You cannot just pick which parents to use for the FAFSA. You are to use the parent you lived with more in the 365 days before filing. That parent must then get an FSA ID by submitting his/her info, including SSN, to sign the FAFSA. FAFSA doesn’t give you any money, it just runs the info you supply through a formula to get a EFC number.

The parent that ‘signs’ the FAFSA is certifying that the info in the parent section is correct. If that parent is married (in this case your father to your step mother), he is also going to be required to give the other parent’s (stepmother’s) tax information because it is on HIS tax forms. He’s really not giving the stepmother’s SSN or other personal information.

Did your father provide the information? Did he sign the FAFSA with a FSA ID? Do you live with your father and stepmother more than with your mother and her spouse? If not, you did not complete the FAFSA correctly.

If you received $11k from filing the FAFSA, you didn’t get it because you worked hard in high school. Half (~$5500) is a federal student loan. The other half is a Pell grant that’s guaranteed to low income students.

Which parent do you spend more nights/year with? What’s the gross household income of that parent? If you live more than half the time with your mom, you have to use her address and tax info. on the FAFSA.

Sounds like your step mom should also be annoyed with your dad for not keeping her in the loop. After all she is a stakeholder in this process too if you are using her household info on the FAFSA. This involves her as well and therefore, she should have a say. Otherwise if you just used your mom’s, it would not be any any of her concern and you would be able to say its non of her business. But, in this case, this is her business.

Yeah, it sounds like you may have to give up the $5,500 of pell. And, possibly a cal grant if your GPA was good. But, you aren’t the only one in that situation. :-S