Credit glossary
Mixed file
A credit file that contains another person's accounts, addresses or name variations, usually because your identifying details look alike.
A mixed file isn't identity theft, since nobody used your information. It's a matching error by the bureau, often traced to similar names, addresses or Social Security numbers. The FCRA requires bureaus to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy, and the FTC's 2013 study found 5% of consumers had errors on their reports that could lead to less favorable loan terms.
Fix it with disputes to each bureau that lists the wrong items, starting with the personal information, since a wrong address or name variation can keep pulling the other person's accounts back in. Dispute the accounts too, and contact the lenders involved. Pull fresh reports after each round to confirm the other person's data is gone from every bureau.
Guides that go deeper
- Mixed credit files: when someone else's accounts land on your reportA mixed file happens when a bureau merges your data with another person's. How it happens, how it differs from identity theft, and how to separate them.
- How to read your credit report, line by line and field by fieldWhat each section and field on an Equifax, Experian or TransUnion report means, which dates matter most, and how to tell normal entries from real errors.
Sources
- 15 U.S.C. 1681e: Compliance procedures, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- FTC Study Finds Five Percent of Consumers Had Errors on Their Credit Reports That Could Result in Less Favorable Terms for Loans, Federal Trade Commission
- Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports, Federal Trade Commission
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.