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by Bayview Hunters Point Community Legal (BHPCL)
At age 77, Gloria has lived in the same house in Bayview for over 40 years. Despite being severely sight impaired, she remains an active member of the community by volunteering her time to read to kids in schools, taking modern dancing classes and swimming on a regular basis. Gloria’s lifestyle came to a halt, however, when she discovered that someone had stolen her identity.
Trouble started with a call from Georgia. On the other end of the line, a creditor told her that she had over $2,000 in overdue bills from Comcast, T-Mobile and Georgia Power. Shocked, Gloria immediately called her sister Shirley. The two knew they couldn’t afford a private attorney, so they filed a police report and prayed the issue would go away.
It didn’t. Over the course of three years, several other credit cards were opened in Gloria’s name. Bills from department stores, utility companies and cell phone providers came one after another, shortly followed by threats from creditors. Gloria and Shirley filed police reports, contacted government agencies, and met with fraud agencies. No one could help.
Finally, Shirley decided to pull up Gloria’s credit report to see the total damage. Much to their dismay, the report showed that credit card bills were the least of their worries. Gloria had a default judgement on an unlawful detainer on her record, along with $20,000 in back rent for a house in Atlanta, Georgia. To make matters worse, the credit cards were being used by Gloria’s estranged niece.
“I felt totally violated,” Gloria remembers, “like I had been stripped naked.”
That’s when Shirley told her sister about BHPCL. Shirley had worked with our office on a number of legal issues that year and suggested it was time for Gloria to seek an advocate as well. Our attorneys took Gloria’s case right away and began representing her free of charge.
“I thank God for Bayview Hunters Point Community Legal. I could not have afforded a private attorney. The experience was very encouraging.”
Over the course of the next two years, our team procured the evidence to prove Gloria’s innocence and convinced her creditors to drop all charges. Our team then cleaned her credit report and created a credit freeze so that no one will be able to open a credit line in her name again.
Now five years after she first learned of her identity theft, Gloria is debt free with a clean credit score and a secure identity. “It’s been a tremendous encouragement,” she reports. About a month ago, someone tried to steal Gloria’s identity again. Thanks to the protections that BHPCL put in place, they were unsuccessful.
With a clean record, Gloria has started getting involved in her old hobbies again. She recently joined a book group for people who are sight-impaired and has been enjoying reading books like “Outlander” and “Great Magic.” Gloria’s also looking forward to putting her history degree to use again by reading to elementary school kids in the neighborhood.
“I thank God for Bayview Hunters Point Community Legal. I could not have afforded a private attorney. The experience was very encouraging.”
To learn more, visit Bayview Hunters Point Community Legal at https://bhpcommunitylegal.org/, call them at 415-735-4124, or stop by to see them at 4622 Third St., San Francisco CA 94124.
