A mixed credit file occurs when information belonging to more than one person is unintentionally combined in a credit bureau's database. This can result in errors involving names, phone numbers, addresses and credit account information.

Most consumers don’t realize that when they file a credit report dispute, the process is handled through a private system called e-OSCAR—built by the credit bureaus, not by lawmakers or regulators. This system reduces disputes to short codes and often prevents meaningful investigations. As a result, false information may remain on your report even after you dispute it. If your credit dispute has been ignored or mishandled, you may have legal rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

The CFPB has issued a final rule amending Regulation V under the FCRA to strengthen consumer protections related to medical information. It eliminates a previous exception that allowed creditors to consider medical debts in credit decisions, aligning with the FCRA's prohibition on using medical information for credit eligibility. Additionally, consumer reporting agencies are generally barred from providing creditors with consumer reports containing medical debt information that creditors are not permitted to use.

On January 7, 2025, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against Experian alleging that Experian violated FCRA by failing to properly conduct reinvestigations of disputed information in consumer credit files; failing to delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverified information in consumer credit files; failing to provide adequate written notice to consumers of the results of its reinvestigations; failing to prevent the improper reinsertion of previously deleted information from consumer credit files; and failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the credit information Experian reports on consumers. In addition, the complaint alleges that Experian committed unfair acts or practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by (1) failing to convey consumers’ disputes to furnishers fully and accurately, and instead distorting, truncating, and mischaracterizing consumers’ disputes; (2) relying excessively on furnishers to resolve disputes, routinely doing nothing more than sending the dispute to a furnisher and implementing the furnisher’s response, despite having evidence of that furnisher’s unreliability; and (3) improperly reinserting tradelines into consumer credit reports due to its practice of failing to adequately match newly reported tradelines to tradelines that were previously deleted as a result of a dispute if the subsequent furnishing was from a new furnisher. The Bureau seeks, among other things, to bring Experian into compliance with the law, consumer redress, and the imposition of civil money penalties.