Legal action against the reporting agencies

[rickfoust88]

What is the name of your stateWisconsin (only U.S. law)? Is there any legal action that can be taken against the credit reporting agencies? My Father and i have the same name. And of course his bad credit history and Auto insurance claims are always in my reports. It is so Frustrating. Even my stepmom ends up on my reports. Aren't they supposed to go by social security Number or at least by birth date? I know it's affecting my insurance rates and My interst rate on Home loan! I just want them to change thier methods and be more precise on thier reports. I know i can't be the only one dealing with this.

 

[Some Random Guy]

And when you wrote detailed letters to each credit agency explaining which entries were not yours due to a person with the same name and who has shared an address wiith you in the past, what did they do? Were the entries taken off of your report?

Because that's the system we live with now. They try to match accounts to people by name, ssn, address and other tidbits of info. Often they will not get SSNs or DOB on everything and they won't be able to exclude his accounts from your report. That is why you have to be proactive and send them dispute letters when you see that info appear on your credit report.

 

[hitchinpostfarm]

I too have the same name as my father and have fought this for years with the credit agencies. When I went to purchase my first home, the original loan application was denied due to items on my report that were my fathers, not mine. I contacted the agencies, and one of them bascially stated, yeah sure, it's not your account. Well then I told her to look at the year the account was opened, then look at my birthday. (it was an old JC Penney account that was in good standing, that was actually opened by my parents before I was born) the lady at the credit agency didn't have much to say after that, and everything was cleaned up quickly. My father has since passed away, and my mom sent all three agencies a copy of his death certificate. Recently, I inquired to all three agencies, to obtain a copy of my credit report. I was asked for my SS#, if I was Jr. (which I am) Sr. II or III, birthday, address, etc.
Well two of the three agencies sent me a copy of my fathers credit report and one of them sent me mine. In the mean time, I have started receiving credit card offers in my fathers name! So tell me, how much faith can anyone have in our credit reporting agencies?

 

[quincy]

It is not easy to have faith. The system is far from perfect. However, there are few alternatives. And if a background check is used in place of or in addition to a credit report, then you may find yourself explaining away someone else's criminal history, too.

By the way, I had two social security numbers showing on my reports - one was called an "alternate." It took a long time and a lot of effort on my part before any correction was made.

I should add that a credit reporting agency CAN be held civilly liable for willful noncompliance. If you dispute credit report errors by reporting the inaccuracies in writing to the CRA, and the CRA fails to investigate or respond, you are entitled to take legal action against them (see U.S. Code Title 15, Chapter 41, §1681o).

Civil liability for willful noncompliance can result in payment of actual damages (between $100 to $1000) and punitive damages (as determined by the court). In addition, all court costs and attorney fees incurred as a result of your action against the CRA can be awarded.

But, again, it is up to you to first dispute the errors, following the guidelines set out under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 

[Zigner]

It is not easy to have faith. The system is far from perfect. However, there are few alternatives. And if a background check is used in place of or in addition to a credit report, then you may find yourself explaining away someone else's criminal history.

By the way, I had two social security numbers showing on my reports - one was called an "alternate." It took a long time and a lot of effort on my part before any correction was made.

I, too, have two numbers on mine. But they're both mine. I had a new one issued about 2 decades ago due to social security fraud (identity theft)

 

[quincy]

Interesting. I didn't realize people could have two. My "alternate" was a definite error and I found it very odd at the time that the CRAs did not believe me when I said I had only one SS#.

I wanted to add the website for the Fair Credit Reporting Act:

Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 

[Zigner]

Interesting. I didn't realize people could have two.

Only one is active as far as SS is concerned, but both numbers link to the same credit file. IIRC, it's listed as "Other SS numbers used" or "Previous SS numbers used"

ETA: I guess as soon as someone was contributing extra money to MY social security fund, they wanted to stop THAT! If it benefits them, fine. But, if it benefits me, watch out!

 

[quincy]

Ha.

I don't remember thinking at the time that there could be benefits to having two social security numbers. I suppose it is even possible that the alternate SS# appearing on my credit reports had a more attractive credit history attached to it.

Perhaps I should have looked into the origin of the number more thoroughly before trying so hard to get it removed from my reports, huh? I may have decided to ditch my own number instead.

 

[Zigner]

Ha.

I don't remember thinking at the time that there could be benefits to having two social security numbers. I suppose it is even possible that the alternate SS# appearing on my credit reports had a more attractive credit history attached to it.

Perhaps I should have looked into the origin of the number more thoroughly before trying so hard to get it removed from my reports, huh? I may have decided to ditch my own number instead.

Hahaha .