At 22 years old, Kristin Collier applied for her first credit card — a small milestone to adulthood and financial independence. Instead, she was caught off-guard when she was rejected. What came next completely shocked her.
The bank denied her because she already owed over US$200,000. But Collier had never borrowed any money.
Someone else had taken out student loans in her name, opened credit card accounts she’d never seen and built a mountain of debt stretching back years. The culprit? Her own mother, who had been secretly battling a gambling addiction.
The revelation shattered Collier’s young adult life. Over the next decade, she endured a blur of credit disputes, hostile lenders,…