Social Security Number linked to 2 people?

Question

We recently had a friend of ours pull up my husband's record of liens and judgements on lexis nexis - she has a password through work. (He had a bad time during his early 20s, but the report came back that all the liens have been satisfied - although we question whether the report included his liens or his fathers - they have the same name) The report indicated that his social security number was linked to someone else. How can we get this rectified? Who do we call to find out if someone else is using his social security number and to get them taken off? How can we ensure that the debts on his credit report are really his?

Answer 1

a dispute should do it --- many times a one in the same name affadavit may have to be executed

Answer 2

Get copies of your credit report from all three credit bureaus (AnnualCreditReport.com).  The credit bureaus are private companies and you will have to deal with each one.

Review the reports and dispute to the credit bureaus anything that does not belong.  You should keep the dispute reason short and to the point.  

But you may want to indicate that your husband's file has been merged with his father's.  This is often a problem with same name relatives.   Having his father's SS# and DOB will help with cleaning up.

You will have to periodically review his credit file to catch future errors quickly.

Answer 3

If you dispute the items on the credit report it will wipe out the ones that are not your husbands but the ones that are your husbands will not only remain but will also hurt your credit scores. Consumers are under the impression that if disputes dont work then it was worth a try but that is very wrong. I am in the finance business and I am required to ask every person if they have tried to clean their credit and the overwhelming answer is yes. Then I ask them to see their credit and how much was taken off. They always say a few things came off but my scores actually went down dramatically. There are a lot of reason for that. I attached some information for you to read. Go to the May 10th article for more information on this.

Answer 4

I would start by pulling a credit bureau report, and dispute all items that are reported as negative information. When it asks for the reason of dispute check the box that says "This account doesn't belong to me"

The credit reporting agency will investigate each account. If they're unable to verify an account, the record will be removed. If they verify an account and see a different D.O.B. or SSN, the item should be removed. After the investigation is complete, you'll receive an updated credit report in the mail (or online) If some of your husband's father's accounts are included, I'd make a copy of your husband's Driver's License and Social Security card, and mail them to the credit bureaus, asking for a new investigation.

This process may take a few months, but this is well worth a shot. You're entitled to one free credit report per year. To get the free one from Equifax go to: http://www.equifax.com/fcra

I hope this helps