Split Report

[Red1Blue]

How can we tell if we have a split report on EQ?

[llecs]

When some TLs are reporting one day and missing the next. Same goes for missing inquiries, missing demographic info, etc.

[Red1Blue]

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@llecs wrote:
When some TLs are reporting one day and missing the next. Same goes for missing inquiries, missing demographic info, etc.

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What do we need to do if this happens?

[llecs]

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concorduser wrote:

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@llecs wrote:
When some TLs are reporting one day and missing the next. Same goes for missing inquiries, missing demographic info, etc.

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What do we need to do if this happens?

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I have no clue. Seems like Hauling had experience with this, can't remember. I think it involves comparing the most recent EQ CR you had on file with the one you pulled now. I think you'd have to talk to EQ directly and they'll go over each TL and reconstruct the report all the while remove most of the soft inquiries.

Bumping for others.

[haulingthescoreup]

Luckily it hasn't happened to me, but I've read plenty of stories about it happening, generally from over-enthusiastic use of soft inquiries via credit monitoring.

You'll need to find a saved Equifax report with all your accounts on it, call up Equifax customer service, and tell them you think you have a split file. I don't know if most people fax in the older report or what, but they will use it to hunt down the accounts that split off and paste the file back together again.


eta: another way that people realize that they have a split file is when they keep getting Score Alerts for two different scores, up, down, up, down, once or twice a week, or when they pull their FICO's frequently. If you see that you have a 706, then a 682, then a 706, then a 682, that's an indication that your file has split, and each portion is being scored at different times.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 12-29-2009 05:26 PM

[Jazzzy]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Luckily it hasn't happened to me, but I've read plenty of stories about it happening, generally from over-enthusiastic use of soft inquiries via credit monitoring.

You'll need to find a saved Equifax report with all your accounts on it, call up Equifax customer service, and tell them you think you have a split file. I don't know if most people fax in the older report or what, but they will use it to hunt down the accounts that split off and paste the file back together again.


eta: another way that people realize that they have a split file is when they keep getting Score Alerts for two different scores, up, down, up, down, once or twice a week, or when they pull their FICO's frequently. If you see that you have a 706, then a 682, then a 706, then a 682, that's an indication that your file has split, and each portion is being scored at different times.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 12-29-2009 05:26 PM

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Hi hauling...oh great...

Since Dec. 11th, my EQ FICO (provided through ScoreWatch alerts) has bounced from 758 to 753 to 758 to 753. My husband's has bounced from 780 to 773 to 780 to 773.

We don't even belong to a credit monitoring service, however, and have not pulled from one. I haven't even pulled EQ ScoreWatch reports on us since our initial membership ones in September. I did note, however, that in this past week we both received an alert that our PenFed VISA showed a balance increase...and the alert shows the account twice for each of us.

If we ended up with split EQ reports, I don't know how we did it. It wasn't from excessive report pulling.

I don't like to mess with the CRAs...I've learned my lesson in trying to get things reporting correctly. I have found that, at times, if you wait, it will be corrected the next time around. We're not apping for credit anytime soon, so I think I'll bide my time and pull a new EQ report in January and see what's up.

Thanks for the heads up on this.

[haulingthescoreup]

Sorry for the bad news. But at least you're not in any immediate hurry for more credit. Just make sure that you have a copy of your pre-split history, in case they do have to weld your reports back together. The good news is that this happens often enough with EQ that they've gotten pretty good at it.

There are other ways for files to split --lots of tradelines, lots of softs by lenders, and so forth. I mentioned frequent credit monitoring because many people try to fiddle with things on their reports by frequent report pulls. Yes, this can make some things fall off early, but it can also make entire accounts temporarily vanish via file splitting. Just a word to those who get a little impatient waiting for two years to pass.


eta: you know, now that I think about it, that would be a heck of a coincidence for both of your files to split. I think that double reporting by PenFed on both your reports needs investigating. If for some reason your PenFed Visa was reporting twice, that could affect your score (increased CL, increased or decreased util, increased or decreased AAoA, and so forth.) Maybe PenFed has two different account numbers for your Visa or something?

At any rate, if PenFed has the hiccups and is double-reporting your account, that might well explain what you're seeing.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 12-30-2009 04:34 PM

[AndySoCal]

Split files can occur in at least two scenerios.  The first one is if you a large file at Equifax. A large file at Equifax is one with many trade lines, inquiries ETC.  Equifax has taken some steps to fix this problem.  The second scenerio can be a problem at any bureau is how you apply for credit. If you have applied for credit using many different variations of your name can cause a problem. For example if your name was John Douglas Doe for example. Lets say you applied for credit as John Doe, J Douglas Doe, Douglas Doe J. D. Doe etc adding to the problem not at the same address for some those credit inquiries. Contrary to popular belief the credit bureaus do not use just your social security number to pull credit with. The basic problem with just using the social security number alone is there is no way to tell if it is the same person or not. The bureaus use name (first middle last generation code if applicable) address, previous address, and age.  The usual sign of the problem occuring is not all of you credit shows on the report. Common nicknames like using Doug instead of Douglas will not cause a problem. The key is when you apply for credit use the same name and spelling everytime. If you are JR or SR etc make sure you use it when you apply for credit it avoids problems.

[smallfry]

You haven't seen your reports and based on a 7 point swing you are assuming a split report? Doubtful especially since it is husband and wife. Get a free report from Equifax.

[Jazzzy]

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@smallfry wrote:
You haven't seen your reports and based on a 7 point swing you are assuming a split report? Doubtful especially since it is husband and wife. Get a free report from Equifax.

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No. I did not say I was assuming a split report. I didn't know a small point difference wavering back and forth, back and forth, could be one sign of a split report. That's the possibility I was exploring...making no assumption.