Almost daily, something strange happens in my life....today, it was a phone call from a collection agency asking for my ex-husband.
The ex-husband I divorced five years ago, and whose whereabouts I have no clue.
Well, I have a tiny clue. Last I heard he was enrolled in a Ph.D. program at The New School--Eugene Lange College. But I have no idea if he's still there.
He was supposedly living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But I have no idea if he's still there. I sent him some books a couple of months ago, and I imagine they got to him. The books went out UPS, and nothing came back, so I believe it's fair to assume that they got to him.
Other than these small things, which really add up to what might be deemed "circumstantial evidence" in a criminal case, I know nothing.
How or why he put me on as a "reference" on some credit application, or for some sort of credit thing, where a collection agency might end up calling me is...well, and umitigated act of chutzpah to say the least.
When the collection agent asked for my ex, I was first taken aback, but then responded "oh, no, he's not here. We've been divorced for five years and I have no idea where he is." She offered a polite apology and answered my question when I asked the name of her company. The name was incomplete, so I was able to exactly figure out the company's name by a reverse lookup on Switchboard.com; and then after a skillful manipulation of the telephone number I gathered from *69.
I can't imagine what he put down on the application as our relation. I remember quite clearly, though, when I served him with the divorce papers him mentioning that he did not believe we needed a divorce.
Actually, we needed a divorce for moments like this. There was no way in hell that I would allow him to ruin my credit twice. I always knew he would try. That's also why I was reluctant to put a return address on the UPS package.
As I filled out the information for UPS, I my stomach filled with dread--with a sense that he might, for some reason, wander up to this armpit of the universe and show up on my doorstep. Or, perhaps, do something passive-aggressive and indirect but nonetheless damaging.
I should always trust my gut.
Sincerely, I hope this is straightened out and I do not receive any more calls for him. That is a chapter of my life I would very much like to put far, far behind me.
image courtesy of Anne Taintor, Inc.
posted by Tish Grier at 10:42 PM
4 Comments:
I still get calls from my ex-boyfriend's student loan company. And we broke up eight years ago! This means that he used me as a reference after we had broken up. When he got into a minor car accident, my mom was called as his emergency contact. You just can't shake 'em sometimes.
freakin' amazing, isn't it??
I don't chalk it all up to men, though...Steady Eddie's ex-wife keeps emailing him and asking if he has a new job yet (because she heard somewhere he was looking for one). She lives in Maine now, but is still bugging him for money. And bugs him about the job thing because she will get a settlement from his pension.
Thank god there was no money to split up in my divorce!
Seriously good point, Jen! I hadn't thought of his garbage effecting my credit report!
I have to check those things anyway. I have no idea where I stand, overall, with my own credit report.
Absolutely pull your report. I'm glad Jenn said it cuz thats what I was going to post. Do you know my father in law is a deadbeat - and his name is different from my husbands, HOWEVER - somehow, he got linked to my husband's credit report - and MINE! And we weren't even married at the time. But because I was linked with my (then fiancee)husband, I was also linked to his Dad by default. I had to write numerous letters having him removed. They're SO NOT THOROUGH because the agencies don't give a rats ass about YOU, so they don't proof the information they receive. It's a complete pain. You're entitled to a free copy of your report once a year - so I'd go for it Sista! :)
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