IRS claims wife owns a home in another state?

[Killbadcredit]

Hello Guys, I have a question concerning an alleged home in another state.

 

When my wife and I filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2014, our attorney found some weird news.

 
The IRS said wife had xxx amount of credit because of previous unclaimed income taxes and gave her credit for it.

 

Our bankruptcy attorney talked to IRS, and found out someone had been using my wife’s name and social in Chicago Illinois to work.

 

Wife didn’t know of this because she had not worked in years. 

 

Fast forward to 2018, applied for social security for our son and was questioned for an apparent house that my wife owned in Chicago Illinois and a vehicle. Same place IRS claimed her social was being used.

 

Wife did get her social security card stolen at one time around 2004.

 

How would she go about finding more info.

 

The IRS told also told her that she had a car under name in Chicago.

 

The weird part is none of this is showing on her credit report. 
 

IRS did send her a letter about fraud but we can’t find that letter.

 

Who can she contact in Chicago Ill to ask about this alleged home, if even true?

[cv91915]

6 hours ago, Killbadcredit said:

Who can she contact in Chicago Ill to ask about this alleged home, if even true?

Real estate tax records are public, but not always easily searchable due to the inputs required.

 

http://www.cookcountypropertyinfo.com/  

 

You can probably pay one of those "people lookup" services a couple of dollars to search by name.  Hopefully someone here will have a specific one to recommend, as there are lots and lots of them and they all look scammy to me.

[Killbadcredit]

Thanks Cv91915, always look forward to your replies. 
 

My wife looked up her name in Chicago Ill, and a house did come up.

 

Although probably not much, again the IRS did make this statement to our attorney.

 

[cv91915]

2 hours ago, Killbadcredit said:

Thanks Cv91915, always look forward to your replies. 
 

My wife looked up her name in Chicago Ill, and a house did come up.

 

Although probably not much, again the IRS did make this statement to our attorney.

 

Not sure if this is true in IL, but in CA the name of the title company that handled the transfer is generally stamped on the face of some of the docs that are recorded at the courthouse...  if you want to keep following the trail.

 

What are you going to do with this info?  This is identity theft, and I'm hoping you're treating it as such.

[Killbadcredit]

Thanks CV91915, going call and find it more. Like I said I’m not saying it is identity theft but the IRS did make these claims.

 

So we’ll see what we end up finding out.

 

Thanks again.

[Killbadcredit]

@Cv91915, I appreciate your time and help. 
 

If this is indeed identity theft, we will take measures. For now we will see what we can find.

 

 

[DollarDog]

2 hours ago, Killbadcredit said:

Thanks CV91915, going call and find it more. Like I said I’m not saying it is identity theft but the IRS did make these claims.

 

So we’ll see what we end up finding out.

 

Thanks again.

If it's not identity theft, then it's her house and car and she lied to you and committed a federal felony on the bankruptcy petition.

 

Can your wife speak or communicate?  If yes, she needs to talk to a lawyer.  If she can't speak or communicate, do you have power of attorney and are acting on her behalf?  If yes, you need to talk to a lawyer. 

[Killbadcredit]

Thanks for replying, believe me she wouldn’t have funds to buy a home in another state. She did get her social security card  around 2004.

 

I honestly need to take your advice and find out more, because it could be a serious issue. I just find it weird that nothing is showing on her credit report. 

[cv91915]

On 11/9/2020 at 4:51 PM, Killbadcredit said:

Thanks for replying, believe me she wouldn’t have funds to buy a home in another state. She did get her social security card  around 2004.

 

I honestly need to take your advice and find out more, because it could be a serious issue. I just find it weird that nothing is showing on her credit report. 

Out of curiosity, have you located the house through public records?  

[Killbadcredit]

CV91915, can I be honest with you?

I did a search on Cook county the link you provided and nothing came up.

 

I did a google search and her name did show up in Chicago Illinois, and it had a street address.

 

So we just call Cook County and talk to someone over the phone?

We will do that today, what kind of questions should we ask to make progress? 
 

I don’t want to sound stupid, “Hey IRS told us wife has a home in Chicago and we live in San Antonio kind of thing.I almost think we would sound silly and not get much help. You know how people are these days.

[cv91915]

2 hours ago, Killbadcredit said:

CV91915, can I be honest with you?

I did a search on Cook county the link you provided and nothing came up.

 

I did a google search and her name did show up in Chicago Illinois, and it had a street address.

 

So we just call Cook County and talk to someone over the phone?

We will do that today, what kind of questions should we ask to make progress? 
 

I don’t want to sound stupid, “Hey IRS told us wife has a home in Chicago and we live in San Antonio kind of thing.I almost think we would sound silly and not get much help. You know how people are these days.

My question about finding out more info about the home was an aside, out of morbid curiosity. 

 

I'm out of my league advising you on what to do about ID theft, but all the courthouse people would like do is point you to their web site to look up the property info.  They aren't going to get involved and probably aren't staffed to even provide basic info over the phone. 

 

Focus on the ID theft.  You need to get that fixed.  It's hard to say what else is out there.

[hegemony]

2 hours ago, Killbadcredit said:

CV91915, can I be honest with you?

I did a search on Cook county the link you provided and nothing came up.

 

I did a google search and her name did show up in Chicago Illinois, and it had a street address.

 

So we just call Cook County and talk to someone over the phone?

We will do that today, what kind of questions should we ask to make progress? 
 

I don’t want to sound stupid, “Hey IRS told us wife has a home in Chicago and we live in San Antonio kind of thing.I almost think we would sound silly and not get much help. You know how people are these days.

I'd call a locksmith.

[Killbadcredit]

Lol Hegemony, I know this sounds silly but that what the IRS agent told our attorney. I thought I’d share and see what you all thought.

[Zanshiro]

 

On 11/8/2020 at 10:10 PM, Killbadcredit said:

When my wife and I filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2014, our attorney found some weird news.

 
The IRS said wife had xxx amount of credit because of previous unclaimed income taxes and gave her credit for it.  Our bankruptcy attorney talked to IRS, and found out someone had been using my wife’s name and social in Chicago Illinois to work.  Wife didn’t know of this because she had not worked in years.  

That should've been addressed there, pronto, and a police report filed.  That's a major risk, and likely possible in my experiences that the SSA would've granted a new social with such major ID fraud or mix-ups going on if was recurring.

 

On 11/8/2020 at 10:10 PM, Killbadcredit said:

Fast forward to 2018, applied for social security for our son and was questioned for an apparent house that my wife owned in Chicago Illinois and a vehicle. Same place IRS claimed her social was being used....The IRS told also told her that she had a car under name in Chicago....Who can she contact in Chicago Ill to ask about this alleged home, if even true?

This is compounding of the above issue.  Sounds like you need to get to the bottom of it a few years ago.  You've checked the credit report.  You said it's listing in Chicago, IL.  Personally, my first stop would be the assessor's office...Chicago looks like Cook County (Haven't been in that area since I was like 5, so I'm relying on Google exclusively here) -- https://www.cookcountyassessor.com/ -- Your wife can request assistance, showing them the IRS records, and they can likely search by her social to remedy (Or at least begin process) of remedying the situation. 

 

I would also contact SSA regarding a new SSN/SSC:  https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-02220 -- Mind you, this still starts with a police report of identity theft, where your local jurisdiction would likely have to work with the jurisdiction where the fraud occurred.  

 

On 11/8/2020 at 10:10 PM, Killbadcredit said:

IRS did send her a letter about fraud but we can’t find that letter.

I'd aim for my local irs office to speak to someone, personally, as that way you have the benefit of a person 'seeing' you in most cases, to help with the empathy side of things.  https://www.irs.gov/help/contact-your-local-irs-office -- They would also be able to advise steps, where they got the information, and so forth, YMMV.