Chapter 3 - The Number Diane Didn’t Recognize
Diane had retired eight months earlier after thirty-two years managing medical billing for a regional orthopedic practice.
She understood paperwork.
She understood authorization.
She understood how easily people signed things they didn’t fully read.
So on Monday morning, she called her financial adviser.
Martin Cho had helped Diane consolidate her retirement accounts after she retired.
She told him only that she wanted to make sure no one besides her had access.
He became quiet.
“Is there a reason you’re concerned?”
“My daughter has been asking about my rollover.”
Another pause.
“How much does she know?”
Diane frowned.
“She knows I moved the accounts.”
“Does she know where?”
Diane started to answer.
Then stopped.
Natalie had named the institution during Saturday’s argument.
Diane had assumed she remembered it from a casual conversation.
But Diane could no longer remember ever telling her.
Martin checked the account.
No withdrawals.
No new authorized users.
No address changes.
Then he asked Diane to review her credit reports.
That was where they found it.
A hard credit inquiry from six weeks earlier.
Redwood Consumer Lending.
Diane had never heard of the company.
There was no open account attached to it.
Martin advised her to freeze her credit immediately.
She did.
Then she called Redwood.
The representative could tell her very little over the phone, but confirmed an application had been submitted using her identifying information.
“Was it approved?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not authorized to discuss the underwriting decision until we verify your identity and send you the application file.”
Diane’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“What kind of application?”
A pause.
“A debt-consolidation loan.”
Diane looked at the black binder lying beside her.
“How much?”
“Forty-two thousand dollars.”
Diane stopped breathing for a second.
May you like
She had never applied for a forty-two-thousand-dollar loan.
But someone had apparently believed she might.
