What is a Mixed Credit File?

What is a Mixed Credit File

A mixed credit file occurs when your credit information gets combined with someone else's on your credit report, leading to inaccuracies that can negatively affect your credit scores. This can happen due to data entry errors, sharing a name with a family member, having a common surname, similar name spellings, sharing a birthday, or having a Social Security number similar to someone else's.

Consequences of Having a Mixed File

Having a mixed credit file can have several consequences, including poor credit ratings, credit denials, and higher interest rates. When your credit information gets combined with someone else's, it can lead to inaccuracies in your credit history and identifying information. This can result in you being denied for credit, receiving higher interest rates on loans or credit cards, and even being denied for a job or a home rental or mortgage. It can also lead to confusion and difficulty in fixing the errors, as well as potential violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

How to Check If You Have a Mixed File

To check if you have a mixed credit file, you should periodically review your credit report for any unfamiliar information. You can do this by obtaining your credit report from the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You can check your reports for free once a week at: https://www.annualcreditreport.com

Look for any errors or inaccuracies, such as unfamiliar addresses, accounts, or personal information. If you find someone else's information on your credit report, you may have a mixed credit file. In this case, you should submit a dispute with all the credit bureaus that have incorrect information on your credit reports and provide documentation to verify your identity. This may include your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and current address.

If you find a mixed credit file, you should take the following steps to resolve the issue:

1. Obtain Your Credit Reports: Regularly check your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—to look for any errors or inaccuracies, such as unfamiliar addresses, accounts, or personal information.

2. File a Dispute with the Credit Reporting Agency: Contact the credit reporting agency that has the mixed file and file a dispute. You can do this online, by mail, or over the phone. Clearly explain the issue and identify the specific items that you believe are incorrect. Provide documentation and evidence to support your claim, including your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and current address.

3. Provide Supporting Documentation: Ensure that you provide consistent and correct information to all of your creditors and financial institutions, including your full name, Social Security number, date of birth, and current and previous addresses.

4. Follow Up: Follow up with the credit reporting agencies to ensure that the errors are corrected and that your credit reports are accurate.

It's important to address any discrepancies as soon as possible to prevent any adverse impact on your credit and financial opportunities.

Contact us if you are having trouble disputing these errors. We can help!

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. 

TransUnion is Continuously Sued for Misreporting Consumers as Terrorists

Lawsuits have ensued after TransUnion lost two jury trials for the company’s failure to use adequate identifying information regarding terrorist alerts that are appearing on consumer credit reports.

On August 25th, 2020, A man in Pennsylvania, filed a class action lawsuit against TransUnion in federal court, alleging that the bureau violated the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when it mislabeled him as a terrorist on his credit report. This mislabeling occurred because the man simply had the first name of two individuals on the terrorist watch list. Previously, TransUnion had two other lawsuits concerning the same misreporting that led to punitive damages verdicts, including a record verdict under the FCRA. 

Back in March 2020, the plaintiff in the case, Ahmed Al-Shaikli, was seeking pre-approval for a mortgage. His applications were denied based on information located in his credit report. When Ahmed requested copies of his credit report from the three bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, he noticed that TransUnion contained information that the the other two bureaus did not have. According to his complaint, Ahmeds TransUnion report claimed that his name matched two people on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs). 

SDN’s are individuals that are prohibited from business transactions in the United States for national security reasons. In the complaint, the matches were stated to be incorrect. One of the names matched Ahmeds first name, but not his last and the birthdate of this first person was nearly 20 years earlier than that of Ahmed. The second name also matched his first name, and according to the reports from TransUnion, had a birthdate of more than 35 years earlier than his. 

Ahmed is not on the OFAC SDN list nor is he on any other government watch list. He is a lawful United States permanent resident who proudly became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and had also served in the U.S. military as a contractor. 

According to the complaint, Ahmed has reason to believe that TransUnion sold credit reports about him with these false and inaccurate terrorist connections to 11 organizations from February 2019 through April 2020. 

Jim Francis, a partner at Francis Mailman Soulmilas, P.C., who is representing Ahmed in these claims, has stated that: “

Despite TransUnion having Mr. Al-Shaikli's full name, address, social security number, and date of birth, it appears that the company ignored most of that information, and instead associated him with the terrorist watch list because his first name was Ahmed" 

Despite these findings, and TransUnion being hit twice for the same conduct, they still continue to carelessly use the same loose name-matching logic. Ahmed is not the only one to suffer from this similar extreme defamation. 

Ahmeds complaint alleges that TransUnion violated the FCRA by willfully failing to follow reasonable procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of the credit reports it sold. As the lead Plaintiff in the class action, Ahmed seeks to represent all people residing in the U.S. and its Territories about whom TransUnion 

Mr. Al-Shaikli's complaint alleges that TransUnion violated the FCRA by willfully failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of the credit reports it sold. As the lead plaintiff in the class action, Mr. Al-Shaikli seeks to represent: 1.) All people residing in the U.S. and its Territories about whom TransUnion prepared a credit report that included any OFAC record beginning five years prior to the filing of the lawsuit; 2.) the members of the first group whose TransUnion reports claimed they matched a person on the OFAC SDN list but that match was not a character-for-character match to their first and last names; and 3.) the members of the first group whose TransUnion reports claimed they matched a person on the OFAC SDN list but that person had a different year of birth than they did.

A mixed file, even if not to these extreme is a major violation and can cause punitive damages to a consumer. If you feel you have a mixed file, contact us for help. You could be entitled to a settlement.

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.

What is a Mixed or Merged Credit Report?

A mixed or merged credit report is the result of a consumer reporting agency's inaccurate merging of credit information (commonly referred to in the industry as "tradeline" information) and/or an entire credit file belonging to one consumer onto the credit report of another consumer. There are many different possible causes for the merging of tradelines but all of them relate in one way or another the algorithms (the database rules) used by consumer reporting agencies to match tradelines to a particular consumer's credit file. The success or failure of these algorithms or rules is both a function of the rules themselves and of the information provided by the furnishers of the tradeline information to the consumer reporting agencies.  In other words, a mixed credit report could be caused by an improper algorithm just as it could be caused by the inaccurate reporting of a consumer's personal or "indicative" information (e.g., name, social security number, address, date of birth, etc.) by the furnishers to the agencies.  These rules also determine which credit files are merged to create a complete credit report.  Therefore, a mixed credit report is sometimes the result of the mixing of two or more consumer credit files belonging to different consumers into one credit report.  Just as with mixed tradeline information a mixed credit file can be the result of an improper algorithm just as it can be the result of the indicative information used to compile the credit report.