I was more than willing to help contribute to my daughters tuition, however my ex lead me to believe that it was the law and that I had to pay the amounts that she told me I had to pay every month, I went along with her plan because after her constantly taking me to court for 18 years to get increase at child support, I figured she would be fair with charging me instead of having to deal with the courts again and I did not have the resources to hire an attorney at the time to look into the situation and I trusted her to take care of everything since I understand how important it is to obtain a higher education. Well, 3 years and $30,000.00 later I requested to see my daughters bill statement as well as any loans, grants, scholarships that she was awarded in order to check and see if she was being fair with her calculations as the summer term is now 3X the amount it was last year supposedly because she is taking more courses and because they are higher classes however I still wanted to see all of the information that she had access too as I believe I have a right to that. She gave me a tough time, criticized me, and then basically told me if I text her again she’s calling the police on me for harassing her and to have my money ready by a certain date. I contacted my daughter to explain to her the situation and she has not responded and it has been almost 2 weeks now. This was not the first time she denied me the information I asked for however the last time I let it go in order to stop a situation like this from happening.
I began looking through my emails and I found a FSA user ID linked to my account, I looked into it and began understanding the documents she had me singing all along… She used me as the custodial parent on my daughters FAFSA so that she would get more money in pell grants, scholarships and loans. Her and her new husband make at least $100,000.00 a year and I make $40,000.00 so of course my daughter would receive the maximum amount by putting my information. She has been electronically signing my signature and although YES I was giving her my information I had no clue she was frauding the government. She’s setting an example for my daughter by doing this as well! She’s basically showing my daughter that it is OKAY to be a FRAUD, instead of telling her we could not afford the school!! I am very upset because had I known this is what she was doing I would have never agreed for her to go to such a pricey school! I also found out that it is not the law for me to pay for her tuition unless she takes me to court and has a judge order it (I have no problem helping but I believe my daughter should take some responsibility as well and I want to be respected by her and her mother stop wrongfully using my information). Well apparently a document she asked me to sign for my daughters admissions, she turned into the court house and had a judge sign off on it so now its “court ordered” and she can legally sue me, it’s an order she wrote up that orders I pay more than half of her cost for her first year and 50% for the rest of her education. She has changed her major so will be taking another year there so I wasted a nice chunk of change for her to discover what she really wanted to do and I just feel as if Ive been taken advantage of and jipped.
My living circumstance have been tough, I live in a dangerous neighborhood the place is maybe 700sq ft it has major electrical and water problems, there is no central A/C or heat, the complex has bug issues they can’t get rid of because of dirty neighbors and I can’t afford anywhere else to live. I also can’t receive any kind of assistance because they consider college to be a luxury so they figure if you can afford college then you can afford to take care of yourself first. However I am neglecting NEEDS to pay for her school!
I want to take the contract to court however I am afraid that once the FAFSA will be exposed and although I have evidence to prove that she is the one who has been filling it out and signing my name but wouldn’t I still somehow be in trouble? OR wouldn’t my daughter be kicked out of school for being dishonest even though the mother is filling it out,. Now that I am also aware of it and she needs to be in school for another year that means I am basically allowing her to put my information there now because now I am aware of it…I have a little boy now with my girlfriend and they both need me and I do not want to risk being put in jail or having a felony or owing money to the government by this application being put in my name but at the same time I don’t want my daughter to be kicked from school. I am very upset and not even sure what I can do at this point. If I take it to court it will be discovered, if I don’t take it to court I risk it being discovered and again I still have that contract with her that I want out of as she has taken total advantage of me and basically been committing identity fraud, as she never thoroughly explained anything to me and I have hard evidence to prove it. I have stopped paying her until she gives me the information I requested but her and my daughter have never responded and to no avail I have tried to get in touch with my daughter and I can no longer contact the mother or I can be charged with “harassment”. I believe that any normal women would say “okay I’ll forward you the info” considering I have never been late on a payment and done everything she’s asked of me or told me which lead me into this mess in the first place.
And this is one good reason NEVER to give your user ID and password info for,the FAFSA to ANYONE.
How would you prove that someone else electronically signed using YOUR information?
I think you need to contact a lawyer.
Regarding paying for summer school…Why is this even happening? Most college students do NOT take summer school classes…at all.
Like I said, She has given me NO information EVER or my daughter, and then I ask for it and this is what happen’s and this is everything I have found out. I have always went along with everything to avoid a situation such as this. I NEVER gave her the USER ID and PASSWORD, I didn’t know I even had an account with that website. She text me and told me she had something emailed to me for her college and to forward her the email so I did as she said, I trusted her. I never thought she would do something like this or teach my daughter to do something like this…
What did you give her? Your tax information?
Do you live near a law school? If so, call them. They have legal clinics which are staffed by law professors who work closely supervising law students to help low income people with their legal problems. They will not go to the police or call the FBI to report your ex- they will sit down with you and get all the facts together (they will want to see a copy of the divorce decree, your past few years tax returns, and any court-ordered modification to child support, custody, etc.
Then you can formulate a plan and figure out what your options are.
Does this college also require the CSS Profile?
She most likely set up the FAFSA account using your tax information. With you making $40,000 per year your daughter won’t get the max aid. She looking at something closer to $3000 from pell. I don’t know what school or state you are in so I don’t know about state aid. Does she go to a private or public school?
Yes, my tax transcripts, W2’s, SSN, new address, everything. She told me it was needed for admissions! She went to college I never did so I figured she knew the ropes and would do a better job setting her up for school then I would so I let her handle everything. She never explained to me that she was putting my information on an application where HER information was SUPPOSE TO GO and that if it was found out I could get a felony charge, jail time and $20,000.00 fine. I would have never agreed to frauding the government! I would have suggested a school that was affordable!
She set the account up as if she were me with my information and then linked it to my email to watch her behind. I had no idea this is what that website was used for until I called them and found out.
There is no divorce decree, we we’re never married and the “agreed order” was made in a different state. We both moved out of the state, she moved to the state my daughters going to school in and I moved to FL.
PUBLIC… I don’t know anything and can’t get any information without her consent from the college and she has not responded to me and I have contacted her via phone call and text SEVERAL times…
She used YOUR email? If so, you would have received email notices that the FAFSA was processed…and you would also have received the Student Aid Report.
Are you saying you never got anything?
Stop contacting her. You are fueling her claim that she is being harassed. She’s not going to give you any information so continuing to call or text is a waste of your time (and evidence on her end that she needs to be protected from you.)
Get a lawyer-- and if you can’t afford one, I’ve already suggested a way to get cheap representation.
You now know that your ex-wife used your tax information to fraudulently submit a FAFSA on behalf of your daughter, claiming that you are the custodial parent. Your obligation is to report this fact. You are not complicit unless you do nothing. I would start with the financial aid office at your daughter’s school. Contact them and let them know what you have discovered. They should know how to proceed, including alerting the federal Department of Education. Don’t make it worse by doing nothing.
This should go without saying, but you should not have trusted your ex by giving her all sorts of private financial information (tax and W-2 information). Don’t share this stuff with anyone except a tax preparer that you trust. Lesson learned.
It sounds like OP gave all his tax and W-2 information to his ex, she created a FSA ID using OP’s email address, and asked OP to forward any FAFSA related email that he received to her, which he did. OP has been played like a fiddle.
You can change your FAFSA password so she can no longer sign into the account. I don’t think your daughter is getting much in aid from a public school using your info. It doesn’t really seem worth it to me for your ex to commit fraud. You sure there isn’t something else going on?
We don’t know if the financial aid application is the only fraudulent activity. The ex- could have credit cards in his name.
oh wow…has she taken out Parent Plus loan in YOUR name???
@sensation723 the DD has been fraudulently getting Pell Grants, and likely subsidized loans and work study
True, but he can only report what he knows or has suspicions about. OP should request credit reports from all three credit agencies, and consider putting a block on his credit files.
@mom2collegekids That is my fear. With his income he wouldn’t get the max financial aid. They only way to close the gap is with loans.
Yes there is evidence. They can tell which IP address, etc, was used for FAFSA submittal.
The ex likely filed at her home or work. That would prove that the OP didn’t file FAFSA.