How to remove credit report items that are not yours?

[George888]

Hello,


My son is 21 years old and has never opened any credit accounts. However, he was recently denied a college student credit card. The bank representative told him that if he had zero credit, he would have been approved, but he was denied because there were many  negative items on his credit report that didn't belong to him.

The bank rep told him that some of the accounts were opened on the credit report about eleven years ago, when my son was only ten years old.

I have not seen the credit report but I believe that some of those items must belong to me, as we have the same name and same address. I will obtain a copy of his three-bureau credit report and investigate.

• Does anybody know how get these items removed from his credit report?
• What are the steps involved? 
• My guess is to dispute each trade line with the credit bureaus to say the accounts are not his, but do we need to show any proof?  Perhaps a birth certificate?  
• Is there something else I should do? Perhaps contact the OCs and CAs to validate the accounts?

[RobertEG]

As I see it, you have two options, based on the reason as to why the debt/accounts are not considered as his.

If the items belong to you, the problem is one of mis-matching to the incorrect credit file.  I would handle that first by contacting the CRA, providing them with the relevant personal identifiers of both you and your son, and asking them to check that against the matching info they used to match whatever was reported with his file.

That is basically an administrative issue.  You can do the same with the creditor who reported the info, without dispute, making them aware of the apparent administrative mixup.

However, if the reported items have no known identity, I would begin by filing a police report, asserting their inclusion as based on potential identity theft.

Once you have a copy of a police report, you can send it to the furnisher of the information, and demand copies of business records supporting their contention that the account was, in fact, his.  FCRA 609(e).  Better than a dispute, because it compels the production of documentation, and does not clutter his file with a dispute flag.  Verification of a dispute does not carry with it any requirement to provide documentation of their investigation.  609(e) requests compel discovery of documentation, thus removing you from the impossible task of proving a negative.

It would, obviously, not hurt, in contesting potential identity theft, to include the fact that, at the time, he was a minor, so had no legal ability to have applied for credit.

[George888]

That is excellent advice Robert.  Thank you very much for being so helpful.