My nephew (31-years-old) has a problem. His name is the same as another man who is a felon, and has a terrible credit rating. Consequently, whenever the nephew tries to qualify for any credit, this other guy's history is attributed to him. He went to court a few years ago and thought everything was cleared up; however, the guy simply skipped the state and started up again. Any thoughts on how to get this behind him?

 

I had a similar problem because my name--Bill Campbell--is fairly common (two actors, a state senator from California, the mayor of Atlanta, to name a few). I got a copy of my credit report and challenged every item on it which was somebody else's. It took several months and more than one attempt on some items, but it worked.

Have your nephew at least make sure that the social security number on the credit report is correct. I found that they often post items by name, but a check of the SS# will show that it's someone else and can make removing things go more quickly.

Good luck!

 

I found my husband's exwife's crap on my credit, and we don't share anything close to the same first name. Go figure...

 

even if the ss# is correct, doesn't mean much at all. you do not need a ss# to pull credit, it can be pulled from two of three items - valid address, valid name, valid ss#.

how to fix the issue? not sure.