This isn't 100% credit related, but about a year ago I went to finally get a VA drivers license after having moved from SC in 2011.
I went to the DMV, filled out the paperwork, finally made it to the counter after a lovely 1.5 hour wait, and was told by the charming little old lady (seriously, I think she existed merely to spite the law of the universe that DMV employees must hate everyone and everything) that I couldn't get a VA license because my SC license was suspended. That was news to me!
I asked her why it was suspended and she printed out a copy of my driving record, which showed a long list of vehicle and non-vehicle related arrests and convictions (everything from assault, to armed robbery, to driving without a license, and a variety of others) dating back to 1999, all in the Virginia Beach area, which I've never been to. The speeding ticket I'd actually gotten in 2012 was also on the report, but the other page and a half of violations weren't mine. I was absolutely mystified!
The lady at the DMV referred me to the DMV headquarters in Richmond, who then referred me to the Circuit Court in Virginia Beach. After some digging, I was able to finally pull up the court records for the dude who was on my driving record. Same first and last name, different middle name, he's about 20 years older than I am, and is a different race. None of his violations that were on my record listed a license number, so I asked the clerk of court how it would have showed up on my record. She said the info was sent to the DMV, so it would have been their fault. I called the DMV, and they punted it back to the court, saying their system puts in exactly what the court gave them.
Calling the clerk again, she said I'd have to show up to the Virginia Beach circuit court in person and bring several forms of ID to prove that I wasn't the person on my record. I politely told her that was absurd. Besides the same first and last name, there was nothing linking the two of us together, and it was *their* fault that it was on my record, and it was preventing me from driving legally in the state. She was still adamant that I needed to go to court in person to prove that it wasn't me, though. I called a lawyer (I had Hyatt Legal through my employer at the time, and called one of the lawyers on the plan) and he said that was ridiculous and gave me a form to fax to the court, attaching the court transcripts from the other guy's cases and a copy of my license.
After doing so, I got a call back the next day saying the court had updated the records and sent the new info to the DMV, but it would take up to a week to show up in their system.
I was shopping for car insurance at the time (had been on the same policy for about 6 years previously) and was getting absolutely ridiculous policy quotes, anything from $161/month to $413/month for a 1997 Toyota Corolla, compared to my old policy of $64/month. After the DMV's system finally updated the next week, I went back in and successfully got my VA license. Got reinsured a week later with the $161/month policy.
The entire process was infuriating! It took me from early April through mid June (and probably 20 hours on the phone) to get the whole mess straightened out, and it directly impacted how much I had to pay for insurance. I know driving records aren't part of our credit reports, but car insurance is based on credit and driving records, and getting rid of incorrect info is a common issue, so felt like this would be a good place to vent.
/rant over
