Name change = new credit report?

[Anonymous]

Since my wife changed her last name to mine, her most recent Transunion report only shows 1 line of credit...a business credit card I opened using my name and added an additional card for her. What I think is happening is she has not reported to the CRA's that she changed her name so they now have 2 seperate files on her. She has a charge off on her previous credit reports so I'm wondering is it ideal to just not report the name change? (yes, I understand this means starting her credit again from scratch) I suppose they can be combined later when the charge off drops off her report with her maiden name. I didn't even realize that would show up on her credit history but is it safe to assume the regular use and payment on it will help build her new credit?

[pipeguy]

IMO its not your job to correct the CRAs files, lord knows they make it hard for anyone trying to correct an actual error. As long as you don't need her to have a long credit history, such as looking for a mortgage in the near future, I see nothing unethical about letting the CRAs catch up on their own (which they might anyway). Since credit reports are keyed into SSN's just understand that once she starts applying for new accounts under her new name the CRAs should put 2+ 2 together and merge the accounts. As long as you stay under the radar by not filling out forms or offering reporting information, until you actually want her credit report updated (merged) I think its a win win for you.

[Anonymous]

She just mentioned that awhile back when she applied for our company's merchant account, they took her SSN and new name and recieved a response that "she has no credit history." I guess they may eventually put 2 and 2 together but I wonder how and if they will...

[jaypeedee]

My wife's reports now show her maiden name as an AKA. They also contain an AKA with a mispelled variation of our last name.  Wierd.