Hi there,<p>I figured if there would be a group of people who would know best how to handle this situation, it would be you.<p>I just got dinged on my credit report by a collections agency. Unfortunately for me, I have a common name. It looks like this agency just found me from somewhere and hit me with this.<p>I first got a letter from them a month ago. I made phone calls to both the agency and the original creditor to clarify with them the details of the delinquent person. (Apparently, he ran out on a utility bill up in the SF bay area. I've lived in southern California for the past twenty years.)<p>I was hoping that took care of it, but instead I got an email from my credit guard service today saying that they reported me anyway. Not sure how they did that, I can only assume they don't have my social security number, but I might be wrong.<p>I'm trying to line all my ducks up so that I can take care of this as efficiently and quickly as possible. I've heard horror stories and am hoping that I don't turn into one of them.<p>Anyway, if you have any advice at all, I'd really appreciate it.<p>Thanks!
Get free copies of your credit report from all 3 agencies (www.frecreditreport.com or your credit guard service). When you log in to each of the credit reports there will be a link to dispute entries. Following this link will take you to an online form that will allow you to submit your dispute online. You can include any supporting info (e.g. your home address vs the SF address). The dispute process usually takes a few weeks/months, but in my case the items were removed in a few business days. Keep watching your reports regularly in case it shows up on a different report a few months down the line.
You may already know this, but if you're in the US (I assume you are since you mention your SS#), you're entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the major three agencies.<p>These are obtained through <a href="https://www.annualcreditreport.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.annualcreditreport.com</a> (not freecreditreport.com)
They only have 30 days to investigate any dispute. If it is for an adverse item more than a couple of years old they may never even try. I would urge everyone to go to annualcreditreport.com, get the report, then dispute every single item!