Mistaken identity...

[Anonymous]

My mother recently pulled her credit report from TU and discovered a total mess... A good portion of accounts are actually my sisters'.  One of my sisters has the same first and last name as my mother, but different middle initial and obviously different birthday and SS#. Not only are her acccounts showing on my mother's credit report, but also accounts from another one of our sisters, who has a completely different name altogether. She has that sister's address on her report, and an occupation and birth date that belong to no one in our family!  It's a complete jumbled mess. She tried to speak to someone on the phone from TU but couldn't really get anywhere. There are so many accounts on there, covering so many years (she's 70) and with credit companies buying other credit companies, she really has no idea which are hers and which are not (aside from my sister's student loans and car loan). All she knows for certain is that she has never paid late on anything in her life... unlike one of my sisters!  

Do you guys know if she would be able to dispute only the derogatory accounts which are obviously not hers and just disregard the rest?  And, if so, about how long that would take?  Does filing a dispute online usually work or should she mail in all the info with copies of her license and SS card as proof of identity or something? I'm trying to help her sort this all out but it is so screwed up... and I am sure her other reports are equally screwed up. My mother has a very unique name so I wonder how often this kind of thing happens to the John Smiths of the world!  Do they really just pay absolutely no attention to SS# or birthdates or anything??

Ugh. Anyway, thanks all for your help in advance.

[Anonymous]

Maybe you should repost this in the Understanding Fico board -

I'm no expert but it seems to me you start disputing everything and anything that is not hers.

[Creditaddict]

the easiest way would probably be to buy all 3 reports from myfico.com

Then they allow you to go through and just click on the items to dispute and it will generate a letter with all the info on the account and why your disputing and you just sign and mail it.

When mailing the letters I would include drivers license and be sure to mention different middle initial and such as this proves to the bank it is a different person, just hard to see at a glance.

[Anonymous]

With that many accounts, do it through the mail or fax. Include copy of DL, SS Card, and maybe a utility bill that shows address. Explain that her daughter's name is the same, except the middle.

She can dispute anything that is not hers. CRA have 30 days to complete disputes.

The way I'd do it is -

List out the accounts one by one and below them list the dispute reason.

123 Yellow Brick Road

Kansas, KS 12345

Never lived at this address

SS #  123-45-6789

Not my SS#, proof of my SS # included.

Sallie Mae, Account # XXXXXXXXXXXX

Disputed - Not my account, belongs to family member of similar name.

American Express, Account # XXXXXXXXXXX

Disputed- Not my account, belongs to family member of similar name.

You get the idea.

I'd dispute all accounts that she knows for SURE that are not hers. Then investigate the other accounts while those are being investigated. It might help you to start an Excel worksheet that you can list each account in, what you have done, when you done it, outcome, etc    This is how I keep track.

Message Edited by sidewinder on 05-10-2008 08:17 AM

[Anonymous]

It might also help by adding your moms complete middle name.