4 Yr Old & Kids Get $4 Million in Tax Credits to Buy Homes

From the "can't believe its true" file: No one under the age of 18
can legally purchase a home. However, a four year old baby as
well as hundreds of other minors managed to provide
tax payer identification numbers (TIN) as part of the
qualification process in receiving U.S. federal tax credits
reserved specifically for first time home buyers.

"Through July 25, 2009, we identified more than 580
taxpayers younger than 18 years of age who claimed
almost $4 million in First-Time Homebuyer Credits. The
youngest taxpayers receiving the Credit were four years old.
Contract law generally exempts children under the age of 18
from being bound by the terms of a contract. Therefore, it is
unlikely that these taxpayers would have entered into an
arm’s-length transaction for the purchase of a home."

In other words, someone was using the unauthorized social
security number of some unsuspecting victim for perpetrating
identity theft fraud.

So, while technically its not supposed to be possible for a 4 year
old child to sign documents to purchase a home in America, we
see again that it is quite entirely possible for identity theft to be
committed using a tax payer identification number.

Our tip for today is to pull a credit report and especially a public
records profile (pip) on your children to insure no crafty identity
theft fraudsters haven't already run a scam.

PS: Please share this important identity theft tip with loved one
or friend.