Being this is my first post I hope I am following all rules accordingly.
I have disputed a number of judgments on my credit file with all of the CRA's with TU and EQ removing them; however EX still lists them with a status of Updated.
To give you the reason why they are on my file in the first place is that my father and I share the same first and last name as well as middle initial. Also we shared a residence for a 15 month period.
Two of the filings list the address my father and I resided at. Also there are two matching items from the CA's on my fathers credit file. EX lists one of these judgments.
One of the filings lists an address I lived at alone however the filing has both parents as defendants. A collection was also listed on my file matching this judgment which the CA corrected and the collection item was removed from all three CRA files. I have no access to my mothers credit file so I can't verify with her if this appears on her file. EX lists this judgment.
Last filing lists my fathers correct address at the time and copies of the filing contain his SS and DOB. EX lists this judgment.
My question is now whom do I try to rectify this matter with? EX or the court? Can I request the correspondence between EX and the Small Claims Division? If so whom would I request this information from? Also would it be wise to request the correspondence between TU, EQ and the Court?
Your post is a little confusing, but I'm not the brightest crayon in the box:
Your report shows judgements that dont belong to you?
They verified your name and address?
I would contact the circuit clerks office, in person with photo ID, SSN card, and birth certificate in hand. A copy of the EX report would be good too.
Explain to the clerk, and ask for a delete from your report. It aint your ssn or dob attached to it.
If they give you a hard time, get an attorney.
To be honest the only dealings I had with the court was to obtain the attachments to the judgments. I did have to show ID to get the attachments. As to the filings three list Name and address only, one lists DOB as well.
To clarify a little more, as an example, my name would be John Q Public. My fathers name is also John Q Public. However my middle name is Quincy and my fathers middle name is Quentin. And there lies the confusion. To be honest I am not even sure if the Clerk was supposed to legally give me copies of the attachments seeing as I am not the "John Public" listed as the defendant.
As for the addresses, at no time did my father and I live at the same residence when he defaulted on theses accounts. The only similarity was that he was served at the address we resided at jointly, but well after i moved out. However one attachment is thoroughly messed up containing a previous address of mine, my SS, my fathers DOB and my mother listed as co-defendant (spouse).
I guess my confusion is why two CRA's removed the judgments and not the other. I doubt EX contacted the Court at all seeing as when I reviewed the status of my dispute online the three disputed judgments went from a status of Disputed to Updated in four days. Reading through these forums I have read that EX uses a third party for judgments? Although I will admit I am ignorant to internal workings at EX.
Since my legal expertise is zero and seeing the judgments do not list me as the defendant I am unaware if I can personally do anything to get these filings updated. I am assuming this is something my father would have to do?
If you dont want to deal with the court, maybe the creditors can clear it up. Try calling them.?
From your perspective, this is erroneous reporting. The original accounts were not yours, the lawsuits were not filed against you, you were not served, and the judgements were not obtained against you. They can still be a problem since from now on every law firm or CA this is assigned to, or who buys the debt, will follow the credit report information to YOU, possibly attempting to attach your wages or bank accounts.
The CRAs hire firms such as Lexis-Nexis to collect public records such as court judgements. It is not uncommon in cases such as yours, where the names are similar, for the judgements to be included on the wrong reports. The cursory checking they do, comparing name and address, even an old address, often repeatedly "verify" the result since they are checking nothing other than what got the judgement tied to the wrong identity in the first place.
Because you have several judgements, and multiple reports with the problem, I would contact an attorney with expertise in FCRA law. You have enough of a tangle that odds are you will probably have to beat one of the creditors or CRAs over the head with a legal 2x4, particularly where one of the creditors has attached your SSN to the account. (Now where did he get that? All the other information points to your father, and there is no indication your father was using your id information on this or any of the other accounts.)
These are the sort of problems where the creditors and CRAs first just say "Yup, name matches, he lived at that address, so it's him.", and even when you drag them into court, they will probably just blame eachother, or you!
See, for example, this. Note that Equifax settled, while claiming that it was her fault.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1155648410038
"...
In a recent lawsuit that Equifax settled with a New Mexico woman who sued over an allegedly botched credit report, Equifax also defended its record-keeping tactics. The case involved a small-town teacher whose credit report contained information that belonged to another woman with the same name, but who had bad credit. The woman sued Equifax over the mix-up and for allegedly allowing the false information to remain on her credit file for more than two years. Apodaca v. Discover, No. CIV-04-0717 (D.N.M.).
"At all pertinent times, Equifax has acted in good faith and without intent to injure plaintiff," Equifax stated in court documents. "[A]ny alleged damages sustained by plaintiff were, at least in part, caused by the actions of plaintiff and resulted from plaintiff's own negligence, which equaled or exceeded any alleged negligence or wrongdoing by Equifax."
The woman's attorney, Rob Treinen of Feferman & Warren in Albuquerque, N.M., said that Equifax put up a tough fight, but eventually settled in May for an undisclosed amount.
"It basically takes a lawsuit to get these things sorted out," Treinen said. "Our client gave Equifax everything that they would need to fix that. ... They absolutely would not own up to what had happened."
..."
