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.
Real Example of Mixed Credit File
Siblings, especially twins are more likely to have their credit files mixed than most people. One man had realized that his credit file continued to be mixed with his twin sisters file. The US credit rating agencies can’t seem to tell them apart. Sometimes they associate his social security number with her name and vice versa.
When he applied for a job, his background check listed his name as hers; and his actual name was listed as an alias. They have both been consistently rejected for credit cards, despite both of them having good credit. Mitchell was denied a car loan by a bank that he had used for years. However, they did have luck obtaining housing.
This is a problem that they have to worry about anytime they apply for credit. They never know what information is coming up when their file is pulled.
The problem doesn’t lie within the banks or lenders, but the credit system. In the United States, the Big Three: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian have the most control over our information. These companies obtain hundreds of data sources to predict your credit score. In this mass of data, mistakes happen.
When a credit system messes up, consumers are supposed to have a recourse in fixing the problem. Each agency has a dispute process. When a consumer disputes an error, the credit bureaus are required to do an investigation. When that fails, consumers are oftentimes unsure of what to do. The next step is to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which will forward your complaint to the appropriate ratings agency.
Unfortunately, these situations go in circles. The furnishes will verify your information with the creditors and the creditors will verify your information with the furnishes. In the twins situation, the male pulled his files and mailed in physical proof of his identity, such as his social security card and drivers license. After investigation, his reports still listed his sister as an alias or a former name.
These situations are rarely heard of, but happen often. In this situation, it is likely due to their social security numbers “matching” in the system. Since they are twins, they were likely given social security numbers that are one digit off. The credit bureaus consider this a match, since they only verify 8 out of 9 digits. They also have the same last name, and likely lived in the same household growing up, giving the bureaus verification that they are the same person.
We recommend that you check your credit reports a few times a year. This is especially important if you may have a relative with a similar name. Many people do not realize their credit has been compromised until they are denied credit. You can check your credit reports for free once a week until April of 2022 at www.annualcreditreport.com
If you have investigations that keep failing, contact us for help. You may be entitled to a settlement.
Mistaken For Dead
Mistakenly Placed on Death Master File
Each year more than thousands of people are wrongly placed on the Death Master File. The Death Master File is a document that accounts for every American that has died since the year 1936. People usually do not realize that they have been placed on the Death Master File until they are informed by their bank or are trying to apply for credit. One woman from Philadelphia received an email from American Express in January of 2019 stating that they express their condolences on her passing. She was immediately set into full panic but thought that this was a minor mistake. She was wrong. She soon realized that she was financially powerless. Her AMEX was closed, and her bank account were frozen. (See next blog for the difference between frozen and locked accounts) Her job was not even able to deposit any of her pay into her account. This would eventually ruin or paralyze her insurance as well as her 401k.
Another woman in the state of Utah realized that something was wrong when her credit card was denied on a date night with her husband at a restaurant. She contacted her bank as soon as she returned home, and her credit card company informed her that she has been dead for two years. Since her accounts have been unfrozen, the Social Security Administration is trying to recoup 2 years of payments of tens of thousands of dollars that they believe should not have been paid out.
Funeral directors are the largest source for reporting deaths to the Social Security Administration. There has only recently been a change to switch from paper to electronically filed records. It is an easy mistake to mistype or write a social security number incorrectly. Even one number off can cause serious issues. The Electronic Death or EDR allows states to automatically verify the accuracy of a persons Social Security Number before it is sent to the SSA. Even with this system implemented, it is far from perfect.
The Social Security Administration has estimated that around 12,000 people are wrongfully marked as dead in their system each year. Once a person is in the Death Master File, it is not an easy fix, especially once the credit agencies have the death in their files. If you have become aware of being placed on the Death Master File, it is recommended that you immediately visit your local SSA office and to make sure to bring at least one current form of ID such as a driver’s license and/or passport. If they still have not removed the file, seek a lawyer to see what else you can do to make this right and possible receive compensation.
http://cancelthesefunerals.com/
Mixed Credit Reports Explained
What is a Mixed Credit Report?
A mixed credit report is the result of a credit reporting agency’s inaccurate merging of credit information and/or an entire credit file belonging to one consumer into the credit file of another consumer.
The credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, collect information about you and store it in their databases. They each have hundreds of millions of bits of raw data in their databases and the bits are used to create credit files and consumer disclosures (more commonly known as credit reports).
A credit file is the name used to describe all the information a credit reporting agency has about a consumer. Credit files are created as the result of a query posted to the credit reporting agencies database. The courts and the Federal Trade Commission define the term ‘credit file’ to include anything that might be included in a consumer report prepared about a consumer.
Experian Sued for Mixing the Credit Files of People Who Share the Same Name
A federal lawsuit has been filed against Experian in the United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, for merging the credit file of one individual with the credit file of another who share the same first and last name.
While applying for a mortgage, the plaintiff in the above mentioned case discovered that Experian had included no less than twenty-three (23) tradelines (bits of credit information) which did not belong to her on the credit report used to determine her credit worthiness. After being denied the loan, the plaintiff obtained her credit file from Experian. She then contacted an Experian representative by phone to dispute the inaccurate tradelines. The Experian representative confirmed that the tradelines in question belonged to another consumer and promised to have them removed from her credit file.
However, the information contained within the credit reports which Experian provided to the loan officer, is different than the information contained within the consumer report the plaintiff received when she requested her credit report from Experian. This is not uncommon. Rather it’s standard procedure.
Recent Cases Addressing Reseller Liability
Resellers are consumer reporting agencies who purchase consumer credit information from Trans Union, Equifax and Experian and then resell that information. Often resellers combine all three credit files into one report - commonly known as a “tri-merge” credit report. Recent court opinions have addressed whether these resellers are liable under Section 1681e(b) if one agency reports inaccurate information but the other two do not and the reseller subsequently reports all three files.
$18. 6 Million Verdict Against Equifax for Not Fixing a Mixed Credit Report
Equifax Slammed with $18.6 Million Jury Verdict for Violations of the FCRA
A federal jury recently awarded Julie Miller of Oregon with $18.6 Million.
In 2009, Julie Miller applied for credit and was denied. The denial was a result of credit information belonging to a different Julie Miller being mixed with the credit report of the applicant. The inaccuracies consisted of:
- Wrong Social Security Number
- Wrong birth date
- Accounts that were not hers; and
- Erroneous collection accounts.
The mixed credit report resulted in a lost opportunity to obtain credit.
Class Action Against Green Tree Challenging Accuracy of Joint Account Holder Bankruptcy Credit Reporting
Lawsuit Filed Against Green Tree for Reporting a False Bankruptcy
June 7, 2013
Today, Cento Law, LLC attorney G. John Cento filed a class action lawsuit against Green Tree Servicing, LLC alleging numerous violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In the suit, Plaintiff alleges Green Tree inaccurately reported his mortgage account to the consumer reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and/or Trans Union) that he had included his mortgage in bankruptcy even though Plaintiff had never filed bankruptcy.
Mixed Credit Files - The Case of Angela Williams
Angela Williams filed a lawsuit against Equifax alleging that her Equifax credit report included more than two dozen negative accounts which did not belong on her credit report. The negative accounts actually belonged to another consumer named Angelina Williams. In addition to sharing almost identical names, Angela and Angelina also shared another important similarity - their social security numbers were almost identical except that the last two digits were reversed. Angela sent numerous disputes to Equifax trying to correct its reporting over a period of more than a decade. From time to time, Equifax would remove some of the inaccurate accounts from her credit file but those accounts would later appear in other versions of her credit report. Often times, when Angela would request a copy of her credit report, Equifax would return only incomplete credit reports since Equifax's database had created many different credit files for Angela; sometimes those files were put together into one report and sometimes they were not. As a result of this inaccurate reporting, Angela alleged she was repeatedly denied credit. In November 2007, Angela's case made its way to a Florida jury who entered a verdict in her favor and against Equifax for $219,000 in actual damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages.
Connecticut Complaint Against Trans Union For Mixing Credit Files
On August 1, 2011, Ralph C. Neclerio, Jr., a resident of Connecticut, filed suit against Trans Union, LLC alleging that Trans Union has been mixing Neclerio's credit file with his father's credit file since at least 1999. Neclerio is represented by attorney Ian Lyngklip. In particular, Neclerio's Complaint alleges that:
- This case arises as a result of the continued refusal of Trans Union to resolve the persistent appearance of credit data concerning Mr. Neclerio’s father – also named Ralph Neclerio – on Mr. Neclerio’s consumer reports.