The US system of credit reporting and associated ease of establishing credit is like super convenient. But it's largely based on trust. There isn't a whole lot of identity verification, and there are a lot of parties in the system that take identifying information at face value and run with it.
This is nice when it's actually you, but it's a giant PITA to unravel when it's not. My spouse's name and SSN was used to rent an apartment in Oakland, as well as attempts to open credit cards at the apartment address (thankfully they tried to open an account at Amex but she already had one there and they called to confirm; at least one issuer said they were likely to approve). We were able to get all the credit applications denied/cancelled, but the rental lease is harder; the leasing office says they can't do anything without a criminal complaint and Oakland PD won't talk to us.
I don't want to contradict your experience, I'm sure it's real as you describe it.
Are you aware that California Penal Code sections 530.5-530.8 require the law enforcement agency in the area of an identify theft victim to take a police report?
If you call them, they ask you to fill out a report online. If you fill out a report online, they don't appear to do anything with it.
Also, we're not in California. We reported to our local PD, who did call us to get additional information, but obviously isn't going to spend a lot of time on something they can't do anything about. Oakland PD could presumably visit the apartment and see who's there or something.
Most of the things you're supposed to do revolve around documenting things (which allowing a police report does), so that when these accounts get reported on credit reports later, you can contest them and they'll be dropped. But in the mean time, there's nothing to be done about a fraudulent lease.
This is nice when it's actually you, but it's a giant PITA to unravel when it's not. My spouse's name and SSN was used to rent an apartment in Oakland, as well as attempts to open credit cards at the apartment address (thankfully they tried to open an account at Amex but she already had one there and they called to confirm; at least one issuer said they were likely to approve). We were able to get all the credit applications denied/cancelled, but the rental lease is harder; the leasing office says they can't do anything without a criminal complaint and Oakland PD won't talk to us.