My Dads Credit is on my Report!

[droolyn]

Hello everyone first post for me.

Im a young guy and I justy received a 3 in 1 CR. Upon review I noticed that a substantial amount of my report is my fathers' history. We have the same name and address so the information has been jumbled. According to the CRA's, I had a mortgage when I was 3, and my first Amex came at 9. The forums have given me all the info on how to remove items from my report. There are almost 20 incorrect and negative items on my report and my questions is do I handle each one separately or is there an alternative? Once I remove these items how do I prevent this from happenning again? Need some help before I start to get square.

[droolyn]

Is this a case of inadvertant Identity Theft?

[lyle7289]

You can put a fraud alert on your report.

[droolyn]

And what effect will that have?

[jkbowen1021]

It happens more than what you think it does. My dH had the same problem. It took me about 5 years and hiring an attorney to get everything removed. Everything was coming back verified. His CRA said he purchased a house when he was 18 mths old. If you put a fraud alert on your report, it may prevent you from getting another report online without a huge hassle. Just start fighting..dispute everything and see what comes back verified. Hopefully it will be alot easier on you then it was on us. This is the exact reason I did not name my son after my dH. We added a statement on to my dH CR stating to make sure that all information was accurate and his before adding any TL to CRA. That seemed to work. Good Luck!!!

[timbercreektech]

Since no one asked the question, "Is any of it Derogatory?".

It may be helping your scores.

[droolyn]

There are some collections but the tradelines are all good. I got my CR a few months ago and noticed one of his TL's on there and in my next quarterly report, there was a lot more.

[droolyn]

Since none of the accounts belong to me, what strategy should I use? The tradelines are all legit, the collections, I dont know? Should I dispute with the CRA's, OC's or CA's? I am not sure what approach to use because there are so many. Thats gonna be a whole lot of tedious effort. Is there no simple "Look these are my Dads account, please remove all of them?" to the CRA's.

[timbercreektech]

I would dispute all the collections (to the CRA's) as not mine. Explain that they are not yours. Send a copy of your drivers license with the DL number blackened out specifically showing and explaining that your middle initial is different than that of your fathers. It should be as simple as that. They may delete everything, but if it is typical of those drones, they may only delete the collections.

You would then get the advantage of his better trade lines.

[Ahntara]

"...3 in 1 CR...father's history....same name and address..."

THIS is your issue. Before you go composing letters of dispute, perhaps an understanding of the mix-up will help.

Each of us (potentially) has a separate file with each CRA. This raw bureau file should only contain information that is yours. The law demands that this 'consumer file', as defined by the FCRA, be 100% accurate.

When your credit is pulled through any 3rd PARTY, including those used for 'free credit reports' or 3n1 (tri-merges), there is the danger of your raw bureau data mixing in with someone elses - BECAUSE OF THE MERGE.

Merge logic dictates the priorities of data. For instance, because the practice of granting credit originated locally, your name and LOCATION are the most important factors. Strange, huh, the very data you share with your father?

For this reason, errors during the merge, especially for consumers with same/similar names and addresses, will typically occur. With the existing system there is nothing you can do to prevent this. It's a flaw in the daily operating systems.

On to specifics: Forget your 3 in 1. Obtain your consumer files directly from each CRA. Correct any errors on those reports. Insist on 100% accuracy. Keep current copies (You are a good canidate for a credit monitoring service. At the very least, check your CRA files at least 3x yearly, if not more). When you need or apply for credit, employment where your CR is pulled or insurance, have a copy handy. Let the person/company pulling know that you have a relative with the same name/address and offer to provide an accurate report for comparison.

In other words, don't waste your time fighting something that may not actually be there, but just magically appears from time to time because of flaws in a very flawed system. You're just one of those poor souls who needs to have a tight handle on what your CR contains.

[droolyn]

I pulled each report and they each look a little better than the 3-1 from BOA. Thanks for the tip. Information is still mixed but I know what I need to do now. Thanks for all the help everyone. Ill post my story in success stories when some progress is made. Thanks again.