Publications

The Texas Coalition on Coerced Debt has released this online resource to help survivors of financial abuse address the impacts of identity theft in their lives. This toolkit, at www.FinancialAbuseHelp.org, contains five educational guides: understanding coerced debt, how to protect yourself from future financial abuse, discovering if you have coerced debt, how to dispute different kinds of coerced debt and block it from appearing on a credit report, and what to do if you are sued for a debt that isn't yours. Coerced debt is debt that an abusive partner has taken out in the victim's name without that person's knowledge or debt taken out by the victim but under force or threat of an abusive partner. It often exists where there is domestic violence but can occur outside of an intimate partner relationship, such as in certain caretaker or guardian roles for foster youth or vulnerable seniors.