Inaccurate Accounts in Credit Report causing me to be denied access to view it

[Anonymous]

I recently bought the credit report/score package for $19 at myFico (I chose the Equifax report, assuming that all 3 companies would have the same/almost the same information).

Upon receiving my report, I noticed there were TWO accounts associated to me that are not mine (I've never had a home mortgage, or any account at Chase for that matter, and I've never had an account at Bank of America). I've constantly been confused (via medical records, criminal records, and now financial records) with another woman with my same name and birthday living nearby. I was able to get ahold of someone at Equifax to create a dispute via phonecall. They had informed me that I would have to view the other two reports from the other companies and call them to dispute those accounts on those as well. Upon trying to receive my free reports from those two companies at annualcreditreport.com, I was denied access to those because the questions they asked were associated to the accounts that I do not own (i.e. what is your mortage amount, how many children are living at your home, how much is your monthly mortgage). None of thosee questions apply to me and I of course was denied access when I answered "none of the above". . Upon trying to contact these companies via phone, I was told I would have to pay for the account to even receive a phone number to talk to someone about it, or I was directly to an automated voice which could not understand my street address and would promptly hang up on me.

How can I go about disputing information on my reports when I can't even get into my account. Does anyone know phone numbers at the reporting agencies that will direct me to speaking to REAL people?!

I know I can write in to dispute information, but need to include information about all of my accounts. Will they not even open the dispute if the information I provide doesn't match up with what they believe is my account information?

Since I was able to get the information disputed at Equifax, will it be required that those creditors inform the other two reporting agencies of the mistakes as well?

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that. I would pay for the CR and get a copy of it and see if they also have the same wrong accounts listed. Earlier is always better. Try to clean usp ASAP.

Keep us posted.

[llecs]

Ditto. Pull your reports, but do so directly via the 3 credit reporting agencies. You can actually get the reports for free if you suspect you are a victim of ID theft. But you want the full reports from the CRAs and that'll give you a better idea of when the account was opened, which name it was opened under, and the associated contact info used when that person applied using your info.

Once you thoroughly review each of the 3 credit reports, and you are 100% certain that you never opened them, then call the police. Get a report filed for ID theft and you can use that police report to get these accounts off your report. But make sure the accounts aren't yours. Check account ownership; sometimes family memebers have been known to add people as authorized users on a CC. In the case of a mortgage, though, you'd have to sign. If you never had a mortgage, then it could be ID theft. Also check bank ownership to make sure banks didn't change hands. For example BofA bought out MBNA and Countrywide. Chase bought out WaMu who bought out Providian. Definitely worth the review.

When requesting the reports, you might have to request via the mail by sending in proof like a SSN, a utility bill, driver's license, etc. I'd call and ask that general question to see what info you need from them to request areport via mail.

[Anonymous]

Wow you guys are very helpful! Thanks so much!

The problem is that I can't even view the other two reports because the questions they're asking to get in and view them are regarding those accounts I don't own (i.e. what bank is your mortgage through, what is your mortgage amount, etc.). When I answer "none of the above" (as I should), it blocks me from the account! For some reason, Equifax let me in even though I answered "none of the above", but the other two will not.

Therefore, I already KNOW that there is wrong account information in there. I just need to get it disputed, yet they won't let me without already viewing the account. When I have called, there is only automated voices with options asking for my information (can't get the computer to understand my street address), or they are telling me I have to buy the report, which I cannot get into due to incorrect answers to their questions. This is a perpetuating cycle!

[LIGHTNIN]

Since you're having a problem, getting your CR's online or by phone.

You can call each of the CRA's and request your CR's by mail.

They will send you request CR form to fill out. The CRA will also need, documentation of your ID and/or your address.

The CRA will also include, a list of acceptable forms of ID, for you to choose from, to send in along with the request of your CR.

This information is also, on each of the CRA's web sites, if you dont want to wait for them to mail you the request forms.

[RobertEG]

You can play hard-ball by first taking llec's advice, and file a police report.  It is not your duty to sumise why the incorrect information is in your credit file, such as by a matching error based on similar names, etc. 

Make the assumption, which you are entitled to do, that the reporting was correct, and thus the only way it could have been reported was if someone else used your identity.

Ergo, potential identity theft.  You dont have to prove identity theft to file a police report, just present a good-faith assertion that it is a likely cause.

Police reports are accepted under FCRA 603(q) as what the FCRA calls an "identity theft report," and a valid identity theft report opens the doors to actions you can take under the FCRA,

Armed with the police report, you can then simply send a copy to the creditor, and REQUIRE them to provide their internal business records pertaining to the account agreement and transactions on the account.  A "discovery" process available to you under the provisions of FCRA 609(e).  It shifts the burden to them to provide documentation of your allleged responsibility for the debt.

You can also send a copy of the police/identity theft report to the CRAs, and require a block on the information related to identity theft from your credit report.  FCRA 605B.

Those processes are totally outside of the normal FCRA dispute process, and thus cant be dodged by simply providing a conclusion of "verification" of their accuracy.