Equifax says I have no credit file?

[Anonymous]

So this is an interesting problem - I'm hoping maybe someone has some insight to it.

I was trying to sign up for USAA"s CMS, and it wouldn't verify the information - so I figured the problem had to be with EQ. I currently have Citi's service, and it's been pulling up my EQ report just fine - but according to the report, I have no SSN on file with Equifax.

So I called up Equifax, and spoke to a lady there, told her I was showing my report as having no social security number and said it was causing a problem. She took my information and put me on hold for a few minutes - then came back telling me I have no Equifax file. Which is news to me, since I have 7 credit lines all reporting to EQ, and my Citi report shows my credit report (without the SSN, that is).

I tried to explain it to her, but she was not listening at all and told me that Citi doesn't know what they're talking about, and I have no EQ file. She told me to contact my banks and make sure they're reporting properly to Equifax - which I knew they were, but I called them anyway. All told me the same, we're reporting to Equifax, and there's nothing they can do about the issue.

So my question is.. where do I go from here? I have an EQ file according to Citi IdentityMonitor (since I have trade lines showing up on it, and even a bunch of inquiries) but according to Equifax, I don't have a file. The creditors can't do anything that they're not doing already, which is reporting my file with all the proper name/address/dob/ssn info.

Equifax doesn't seem like they want to do anything, and the creditors can't do anything different - so how do I get them to actually properly find my file so that it exists?

Also, as an addendum - my TU and EX reports show up just fine. It's just EQ. And the credit lines are a 12+ months old at this point, so they've had plenty of time to report. And I do have a report through Citi, it's just EQ refuses to locate it when I try to contact them, and they won't let me order a credit report and I can't sign up for any of the better credit monitoring services because of the issue.

[llecs]

I don't see how Citi's CMS could pull up your EQ report without your SSN. Have you ever pulled an EQ report directly from EQ or annualcreditreport.com before? Or an EQ FICO as far as that goes?

[Anonymous]

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@llecs wrote:

I don't see how Citi's CMS could pull up your EQ report without your SSN. Have you ever pulled an EQ report directly from EQ or annualcreditreport.com before? Or an EQ FICO as far as that goes?

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Citi has my SSN and all the other info obviously - it's just when it pulls the report, the personal info area has nothing for an SSN. TU and EX have the last 4. I still have an EQ report, there's just no social. And Equifax can't find the file.

And nope, I haven't been able to pull an EQ report directly, it tells me the info on record doesn't match (duh - no SSN on record would do that) so that I'd need to mail them my social security card and a utility bill. Yeah, not sure how I feel about that. That's why I called them today to ask, and got told I have no file.

I mean if they want to wipe my EQ file clean and give me a clean slate.. rock on! I'd be more than happy to lose all the inquiries! But I get the feeling it's gonna be a pain to fix this.

[AndySoCal]

I presume the SSN Citi is susing and the one used be USAA is the same number.  If not would be a problem. Have ou tried pulling your Equifax credit report from annualcredit reports.com? If not give it a try I wondering if you get the same results as USAA.

[Anonymous]

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@AndySoCal wrote:

I presume the SSN Citi is susing and the one used be USAA is the same number.  If not would be a problem. Have ou tried pulling your Equifax credit report from annualcredit reports.com? If not give it a try I wondering if you get the same results as USAA.

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Yeah, tried, can't - gives me the message about not being able to verify my info and that I need to order it by mail and provide them my id as documentation.

Which I wouldn't really mind doing, but if they can't "find" my credit file? I'm not sure how much it would help to mail them anything.

Gonna have to call them back tomorrow and argue about it with another clueless rep, I guess.

[AndySoCal]

Ask the reprresentative if the ycan search by account number. Give them one your credit lines that reports to Equifax. You can ask if Citi or whoever you pick reports to Equifax? If yes then ask my previous question.

[Anonymous]

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@AndySoCal wrote:

Ask the reprresentative if the ycan search by account number. Give them one your credit lines that reports to Equifax. You can ask if Citi or whoever you pick reports to Equifax? If yes then ask my previous question.

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Yeah, all my cards report to EQ, and show up on the EQ report I got through Citi. I have HSBC, Navy Federal, Bank of America, GECRB (x2) and Capital One (x2) all showing up on my report when I pull it on Citi. Plus I called NFCU and Cap One to doublecheck and they both guaranteed me everything is being reported. The girl from NFCU said that they're doing everything they're supposed to on their end, so the issue is purely with Equifax's end.

Honestly, not surprised, they've been the biggest problem for me so far.

[AndySoCal]

In my previous response, I meant for you to ask Equifax those questions. Sorry for the confusion.

[RobertEG]

You dont have to have an SSN to have a credit file, or for parties to report to a CRA.  However, not having an SSN can lead to problems.

When parties report to a CRA, or when they try to pull up your file, the CRAs use a matching algorithm to obtain the correct file.  The matching algorithms try their best to rely upon supposedly unique personal identifiers, which SSN is supposed to be.  Tax numbers are also fairly good.  With no SSN, it has to rely upon other identifiers, such as full name, current address, etc., which are not always unique.  Mismatching can occur.

Most likely, the clerk you spoke with just tried SSN, got no result, so just blurted out that you had no file.  Maybe he/she did not know how to access your file with other identifiers, or maybe he/she just didnt want to take the time.  You obviously have a file....

I would suggest you send them a list of personal identifiers, with appropriate documentation, and have them update your matching identfiers in your file.  It is to both your advantage and theirs.

[Anonymous]

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@RobertEG wrote:

You dont have to have an SSN to have a credit file, or for parties to report to a CRA.  However, not having an SSN can lead to problems.

When parties report to a CRA, or when they try to pull up your file, the CRAs use a matching algorithm to obtain the correct file.  The matching algorithms try their best to rely upon supposedly unique personal identifiers, which SSN is supposed to be.  Tax numbers are also fairly good.  With no SSN, it has to rely upon other identifiers, such as full name, current address, etc., which are not always unique.  Mismatching can occur.

Most likely, the clerk you spoke with just tried SSN, got no result, so just blurted out that you had no file.  Maybe he/she did not know how to access your file with other identifiers, or maybe he/she just didnt want to take the time.  You obviously have a file....

I would suggest you send them a list of personal identifiers, with appropriate documentation, and have them update your matching identfiers in your file.  It is to both your advantage and theirs.

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I didn't get a chance to call the today, but I'll try calling and seeing if I get a more helpful rep on the phone tomorrow. If not, I'll probably have to go that route, mailing them the info and asking them to update my credit file to have my SSN on it.

The only issue I'm seeing is that they want me to send them a utility bill with my address on it - my credit cards/banks have my permanent address, which is my in-laws' address. Since it's their address, I'm not paying any utilities there. The utilities for my apartment are in my name, but that's a different address - which I don't want to add to the credit file, since I'm probably moving again in 3 months. Since I just got a new license a few months ago, it has my current address on it, not my permanent address.

But I'll be damned if I go through and update a dozen banks/credit card companies with my new address every time we move (which tends to be every year-year-and-a-half), since that means I'd have to update my billing information EVERYWHERE.