The NCTUE is a credit report agency (CRA) that specializes in collecting data on cell phone accounts, cable TV accounts, cable internet service provider accounts, electricty and other utility accounts. The name stands for the National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange. Their database is managed by Equifax, though it appears (?) to be distinct from the traditional EQ database.
I had never pulled my NCTUE report before, and didn't know whether there were errors on it. I pulled it a few days ago and I am glad I did. There was a cell phone account on it that did not belong to me at all. Furthermore, it was an open account, so should that person have started making late payments later this year, the derogatory data would have gone onto my NCTUE report.
I disputed it today, and the agent told me it would take the usual 30 days to resolve. The report wasn't difficult to read, and in fact I could see how the error occured: the owner of the account now lives at my old condo, which I sold 5 years ago. That is still a bit troubling, since that is the ONLY thing the owner and I have in common: we don't know each other, our SSNs look nothing alike, our birthdates are nothing alike, our names are nothing alike, our cell phone contracts began in different months, etc.
The NCTUE is bound by all the standard law of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so everybody is entitled to one free report a year. So if you get curious, it's not hard to take a look.
