I no longer exist.

[Anonymous]

I had a full, legal name change in March. First/middle/and last.

And I have also legally changed my gender. Please no flaming and trolling on this, ok?

However....I now no longer seem to exist to the credit bureaus. I had years of credit history prior to March. Some not so great, some really good. It averaged out to about 660. Enough that Capital One gave me an unsecured card with a $500 limit. 

But it is all gone. 

I have the Cap One card in my hand, with the correct legal name...but my Social Security Number seems to have ZERO file.

Does anyone have any ideas what or why or how here? Is this some "catchup" process? 

Cap One would have sent a report from the first month of the correct name, right? The whole reason I have that card is rebuilding. I charge gas on it and that's it. Pay off monthly. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had a full, legal name change in March. First/middle/and last.

And I have also legally changed my gender. Please no flaming and trolling on this, ok?

However....I now no longer seem to exist to the credit bureaus. I had years of credit history prior to March. Some not so great, some really good. It averaged out to about 660. Enough that Capital One gave me an unsecured card with a $500 limit. 

But it is all gone. 

I have the Cap One card in my hand, with the correct legal name...but my Social Security Number seems to have ZERO file.

Does anyone have any ideas what or why or how here? Is this some "catchup" process? 

Cap One would have sent a report from the first month of the correct name, right? The whole reason I have that card is rebuilding. I charge gas on it and that's it. Pay off monthly. 

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Hello and welcome to myFICO.

I'll make sure there is none.

[CreditDunce]

When a CCC reports to the CRA's the CRA's still have to match it up to your CR file. I am guessing the name change are causing the CRA's to not know which file to add the update to. I would contact each of the major CRA's (Equifax, Experiean and Transunion). Explain the name change, et all. They should be able to add your new name to your existing file. I think that should resolve your issue.

[EW800]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had a full, legal name change in March. First/middle/and last.

And I have also legally changed my gender. Please no flaming and trolling on this, ok?

However....I now no longer seem to exist to the credit bureaus. I had years of credit history prior to March. Some not so great, some really good. It averaged out to about 660. Enough that Capital One gave me an unsecured card with a $500 limit. 

But it is all gone. 

I have the Cap One card in my hand, with the correct legal name...but my Social Security Number seems to have ZERO file.

Does anyone have any ideas what or why or how here? Is this some "catchup" process? 

Cap One would have sent a report from the first month of the correct name, right? The whole reason I have that card is rebuilding. I charge gas on it and that's it. Pay off monthly. 

---

Hello and welcome to myFICO.

I'll make sure there is none.

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That is one of the many things I like about this forum - there is rarely judging or flaming here!  We are all here to help and support each other with credit issues and improvement!  

[Callandra]

A full name change (usually people only change either their first or last name) might be throwing them off. Capital One should be reporting the correct name to the bureaus for you (how long ago did you change your name with Cap1?). If nothing else, a new file should be created after 6 months of reporting with your new name (although that's not ideal since you'd have a split file) although I'm not sure about the social security issue. You might have to contact the CRAs directly if it doesn't get sorted on its own.

My boss got married a few years ago and had the hardest time getting a new bank account as she changed her name and no one could verify her identity. I was thinking of adding on my boyfriend's last name when we get married but with all the hassle of changing your name nowadays, might pass. 

[Anonymous]

Can one of you explain the "Split File" and the ins and outs of that? My understanding of it at this point is that there would be two files with the same SS#, but I don't know the impact of that. And if there are two files with the same SS#, then why does nothing show up under either name? My attempts at accessing my credit report under either name came back with no info. 

The name was legally changed in March, and appropriate documents sent to my active creditors the next day. (Cap One for the card, in person for the bank account, all utilities/cell phone etc, and the fed because I'm currently a student and utilizing student loans)

I had the new Cap One card in hand with the correct name three weeks later. My student loans are now showing the correct name and information. Utilities/cell phone too. 

I went to the Social Security office and DMV the same day as the name change. 

[Gunnar419]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had a full, legal name change in March. First/middle/and last.

And I have also legally changed my gender. Please no flaming and trolling on this, ok?

However....I now no longer seem to exist to the credit bureaus. I had years of credit history prior to March. Some not so great, some really good. It averaged out to about 660. Enough that Capital One gave me an unsecured card with a $500 limit. 

But it is all gone. 

I have the Cap One card in my hand, with the correct legal name...but my Social Security Number seems to have ZERO file.

Does anyone have any ideas what or why or how here? Is this some "catchup" process? 

Cap One would have sent a report from the first month of the correct name, right? The whole reason I have that card is rebuilding. I charge gas on it and that's it. Pay off monthly. 

---

I've done the big total name change though not the gender change. Mine went surprisingly smoothly and I'm sorry yours didn't. The very first thing I'd do is make absolutely sure all my ccs and other existing loans have the correct information. Then I'd contact the Social Security Administration to make sure they have your new, correct ID information and that their files are accurate. You might have to sit down with somebody at a local SSA office if you can't get it done online or by phone. Once you've ensured that the SSA has correct info, then contact each credit bureau and send them whatever paperwork you need to prove who you are.

It might still be an irritating process with some glitches, but you'll get there.

[CreditDunce]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can one of you explain the "Split File" and the ins and outs of that? My understanding of it at this point is that there would be two files with the same SS#, but I don't know the impact of that. And if there are two files with the same SS#, then why does nothing show up under either name? My attempts at accessing my credit report under either name came back with no info. 

The name was legally changed in March, and appropriate documents sent to my active creditors the next day. (Cap One for the card, in person for the bank account, all utilities/cell phone etc, and the fed because I'm currently a student and utilizing student loans)

I had the new Cap One card in hand with the correct name three weeks later. My student loans are now showing the correct name and information. Utilities/cell phone too. 

I went to the Social Security office and DMV the same day as the name change. 

---

I wish I could help you more.  But I really don't know that much about how it works.  I have just picked up bits and pieces from reading various threads.  But from what I have read CRA's use your SSN and your name to match the right file to add any information too.  It may be they are receiving the correct information, but get confused with the different names.   They may be thinking the new reports from your CCC's are from a stolen identity and they just throw away the reports.

My original suggestion was to ask the CRA's to add your new name to your credit report.   If my theory is correct (which it might not be), then it should resolve the issue.   However, it would mean that your credit report would have your old and new names in it.   In a year or two you could remove your old name. 

A split file is actually two credit files.  Some reports may go into one file.  Other reports may go into the second file.  It may even be possible that reports go to both files (I don't know about this).   When your credit report gets pulled, there is no way to know which one will be pulled.   I think what Callandra was saying was if all of your new reports go to your new file, then your old file will eventually die.   Without an update in 6 months, the file is not longer valid for credit scores at least.  It might be a way to start completely over with your credit.  I don't know if it would work or not, though.

But all of this is speculation.  You really should contact the CRA's and ask them to investigate what is going on.  If you like, I think you can at least start the process by going to their websites, clicking on the contact us link.  Then fill out the secured email message box with your information.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried to send the documents with the legal name change along with copies of proof of identity to the CRA's.  I had a fraud alert issue.  I had to send a copy of my DL and 2 forms of id via certified mail to them to prove it was me.  They updated everything in my file (name, addresses and phone number).  After calling the CRA's, what triggered the fraud alert was that I got married almost 2 years ago yet I didn't change my name with the CRA's.  I was getting credit with my new name.  I hadn't applied for credit in several years so it flagged their system.

[Anonymous]

An update, if anyone is following this.

The feds have my student loans sorted out, and they now show up under the correct name. The folks at Capital One swear that cared will report under the correct name, and the last reporting of it under the incorrect name was Feb. They also tell me the credit agencies can be slow. Ok, I can deal with that.

So I'm NOT going to look a gift horse in the mouth and I WILL enjoy this "do over" I seem to have been given.