A mixed credit file occurs when another person's credit information appears on your credit report. This typically happens when two people share similar identifying information—names, Social Security numbers, or addresses. Mixed files can seriously damage your credit and require persistent effort to fix.
How Mixed Files Happen
Credit bureaus match incoming information to files using identifying data. Imperfect matching algorithms can attribute someone else's data to your file. Common causes include similar names (especially common names or names with Jr./Sr.), transposed or similar Social Security numbers, shared addresses (especially for family members), and data entry errors.
Mixed files are most common with parents and children who share names, people with very common names, and family members who lived together.
Signs of a Mixed File
Warning signs include accounts you don't recognize on your credit report, addresses you've never lived at, employers you've never worked for, and credit inquiries from companies you never applied to.
Mixed files differ from identity theft—the other person isn't stealing your identity; your files are simply confused by the bureaus.
Impact on Your Credit
Mixed file damage depends on the other person's credit. If their credit is worse than yours, their negative items (late payments, collections, high balances) lower your score. Even their positive accounts can affect your credit utilization ratios or debt-to-income calculations.
Disputing Mixed File Errors
Dispute each incorrect item individually with each bureau. Identify the specific accounts, addresses, or other information that isn't yours. Explain this is a mixed file situation—the information belongs to someone else.
Provide documentation of your correct information—your Social Security card, driver's license, utility bills showing your address—to help bureaus distinguish your file from the other person's.
Request a Manual Review
Mixed files often require more than routine dispute handling. Request that the bureau manually review and separate the files. Write to their dispute department explaining the mixed file situation and asking for supervisory review.
Multiple Disputes May Be Needed
Mixed files are often recurring problems. Even after correction, the other person's information may re-appear on your report. You may need to dispute repeatedly and escalate to legal action if the problem persists.
Security Freezes
Consider placing security freezes on your credit. While freezes don't fix mixed files, they prevent new accounts from being opened and reduce the chance of additional mixed information appearing.
Legal Rights
Credit bureaus must maintain reasonable procedures to ensure accuracy. Repeated mixed file errors despite proper disputes may constitute FCRA violations. If bureaus fail to properly investigate or allow information to reappear, you may have grounds for legal action.
Documentation for Legal Claims
Keep detailed records: copies of credit reports showing the errors, all dispute letters and responses, proof that disputed items aren't yours, evidence of harm (denied applications, higher rates), and timeline of repeated disputes.
Contacting Data Furnishers
Dispute directly with the creditors whose accounts are incorrectly on your report. Explain the accounts aren't yours and request they correct their records. Sometimes creditors can identify the file mix-up more easily than bureaus.
Identity Documentation
Prepare a packet of identity documents to submit with disputes: government-issued ID, Social Security card copy, utility bills showing your correct address, and a signed statement declaring the mixed information isn't yours.
Getting Legal Help
Consumer attorneys experienced with mixed files understand how to pursue persistent problems. If routine disputes aren't working, legal action may be necessary to force proper file separation. Attorneys can recover damages for harm caused by the mixing and fees for correcting the ongoing problem.