When Someone Uses Your Name
MCL 445.65 — using another's identifying information to obtain credit, a job or records, or commit an unlawful act
In Michigan, no one may use or try to use another person's personal identifying information, with intent to defraud or violate the law, or by concealing or misrepresenting their own identity, to obtain credit, goods, services, money, property, a vital record, a confidential phone record, medical records or employment, or to commit another unlawful act.
- A bona fide gift for the benefit of the person whose information was used.
- Lawfully pursuing or enforcing legal rights, such as investigating a crime or collecting a debt or support.
- Action authorized or required by law or a court order.
- The person's consent, unless they knew it would be used for an unlawful act.
Those are defenses only to the misrepresentation offense, and the person raising one carries the burden of proving it.
Sources for this section (1)
- MCL 445.65 — Identity theft; prohibited conduct
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Michigan attorney.