Ok I'll try to explain this as briefly as possible.
I have a very distant cousin ( he was adopted, ran away, I've never met him) who happens to have the same name as me. Last year I started getting random bills that I knew werent mine, so eventually I called a company to see why they sent it to me. Turns out they had my name and Social on file. This was alarming, so I checked my credit, and found tons of past due bills that werent mine. Most of them were simple things like cell phones bills, utility bills, Enterprise, a couple credit cards and tons of inquiries, but they also had his addresses under my former address and 2 of the bureaus had his birthdate. So I called to dispute all the stuff, and I had to fill out a police report. The police officer said my cousin's info and my info were jumbled on some database (our socials are similar apparently) but she didnt know how to fix it. By the way, all of his old addresses are in a different state and no one has contact info for him so I doubt I could contact him myself.
Anyway, I have slowly gotten most everything off that should be off. But the problem is that stuff that should be on there isnt. Ive had a credit card for 3 years and a cell phone for 3 years that Ive paid on time every time, but those are nowhere to be found on my credit report. I'm assuming they are on my cousin's credit report. I'm graduating in May and will need to get a car, apartment, insurance, etc and I need to get that stuff on my credit report to boost my credit score, which is low due to the lack of history. I've tried calling the credit card company and they seemed very caught off guard by my question and werent sure of what to do. They said just send them something in writing and theyll see what they can do.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Everyone always want to get something OFF a credit report, but how do you get something ON one? Thanks for reading.
My goodness what a mess. I would call that credit card company back and tell them that you are sending a copy of your photo ID and a letter explaining the situation so that you may get your card reported on your credit. Is this card in good standing? If so most do not want to lose a good paying customer so I would ask to speak with a supervisor and tell them you will pay the card off and close it if it isn't doing your credit any good. I seen this happen a few times. My hubby has the ame name except an ie added to a middle name and his mother had his credit ruined by the time he turned 18. It was a mess to straighten up. My brother-in-law also has a very popular first and last name and faces this type of thing often. Lets see who else stops in and can advise you better.
Hi Lou Piniella
If this is the case, you should immediately start building up a new credit history with your existing credit card without waiting to get back your credit history. I don't think it is possible to bring back the credit history back in your credit report. If you have a earlier credit report where you had that credit history, you can send a copy of the same to the credit bureaus and ask them to revert back the credit history in your report.
Don't forget to contact the FTC, the bureaus, and file a police report... Those will make any bureau/creditor disputes much easier to be successful with...
Mary, She is trying to use an existing card and just wants the credit to appear under her name. She says she has had this credit card for three years (and still does). I believe that if it is one in her name and she is still using it I would want it on my report. If contacting the card company does not work how about transferring what ever debt is left on that card onto another low interest card? This may also be safer since the other card is hsowing undedr you relations name.
Yes, I agree with you. Since the entire credit history is lost, she can go for a balance transfer low interest credit card. But since the credit score has already decreased, it may be difficult to get a new balance transfer credit card. However, if the interest and charges on the existing card is low, I think that she should use the existing credit card to build up her credit history. Moreover, if she apply for a new credit card, there will be a hard inquiry in her credit report which may again reduce her credit score.
I was considering the options just in case she can not get her existing creditor (credit card company) to recognize this card as hers and her payments. Since they seem to be reporting it to the other relatives credit history and isn't showing on hers it wouldn't be doing her much good. Identity theft is a really hard thing to get starightened around. I was thinking on this last night and I wonder if she had a paper drawn up and signed by a notarty claiming this is her Identity maybe the credit card company would take the extra time and start reporting it to her history.
It is very difficult to get back the credit history once it is lost from your credit report. You can try it once by sending a certified letter to the three credit bureaus as they might be having an earlier copy of your credit report. However, if you do not get back the credit history, I would suggest you not to waste any more on the postage and start building up a credit history with the existing credit card.
This really is a shame especially all the work it takes to build a good credit history. I can never understand why people name their children after other people or if the last name is common,say like Smith, and they givt the child the first name of Jennifer. How many fo those is out their? Is there any way of keeping your name separate from someone else that has the same name as you? You would think socoal security numbers would take care of this problem but apparently they do not.