What Can I Do if My Credit File Is Mixed With Someone Else’s?

Some mixes are legendarily good: peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and bagels, rain sounds and sleeping in. Other mixes are a little less “Hey, I love Neapolitan ice cream!” and a lot more “Why is this happening to me?” A mixed-up credit report definitely falls into the latter category. 

And that unwanted mix-up is more common than you might think. In 2021, Consumer Reports found that of the 6,000 Americans surveyed, about 34% identified at least one mistake on their credit files, including mixed credit reports. Unmixing your report is a process, but it’s an entirely possible one.

What Does “Mixed” Mean on a Credit Report? 

Per Equifax’s definition, you end up with a mixed credit file when info belonging to more than one person is combined in a credit bureau’s database.

That combined information is a mishmash of inaccurate information on a single person’s credit report.

This confusion often occurs when two people have the same or similar names (making it the bane of people with particularly common names) or similar social security numbers, addresses, or birthdates.

When credit mistakes happen, they can have real consequences.

Having someone else’s info on your file can reduce your credit score, gate you out of potential credit lending opportunities, increase interest rates, or even make you the target of someone else’s debt collections. 

How Can I Prevent It From Happening?

Monitoring your credit is one of the smartest moves you can make, says Experian, as it can help you spot irregularities as soon as they happen — and the less time a mixed credit file lingers, the less complicated correcting it will be.

Whenever you apply for credit, be sure to provide as much personally identifying information as possible.

Always note if you go by nicknames or have gone by a different name in the past, but keep it consistent.

This helps differentiate your credit file and identify it as uniquely yours. On the same note, always ensure that each of your creditors has your current and correct address on file.

What Can I Do After It Happens? 

Let’s imagine that despite your best preventative efforts, your credit file gets mixed — it’s time to ask, “How do I correct a mixed credit report?” It’s a simple answer with a time-consuming endgame: You’ll need to submit a dispute to every credit bureau that has incorrect information on file.

When contacting them, you must identify and clearly explain each bit of wrong information. Equifax recommends having hard proof of your full name, birth date, social security number, and current address to expedite the correction process.

Likewise, if your file has been mixed with that of a relative’s, giving the credit bureau that person’s contact info (with their consent, of course) can help smooth things out.

References:

Consumer Reports – A Broken System: How the Credit Reporting System Fails Consumers and What To Do About It

Equifax – What Is a Mixed Credit File?

Equifax – What Can I Do if I Believe My Credit File Has Been Mixed With Someone Else’s?

Experian – Inaccuracies in Reporting