Banks use credit scores(from your credit report), so do insurance agents and even employers. But if you don’t know what’s on those reports, you could be in for a shock because the chances are your credit report is wrong. 

Flink talked with a woman who sued one of the credit bureaus and won. A judge limited what she could say about the case. The woman, who asked only to be identified as Annie, should have had a great credit score. She paid off a house and her car. But according to the credit bureaus, Annie did not even exist. Instead, she and another woman with horrible credit were made into the same person.

“It was embarrassing, frustrating,” Annie told Flink.

Annie said that she did not even know she had a problem until she applied for a home improvement loan with her bank of 25 years. The bank pulled up her credit report online.

“There were all these bad debts — Sears, Fingerhut — for $2,500 and $3,300,” Annie said. 

Flink reported that there was a total of $44,000 in bad debt from businesses Annie said she had never heard of. 

“And I said, ‘Oh my gosh. Those are not mine.’ And she said, ‘It’s on your credit report,’” Annie said. 

Almost immediately, Annie went online, as directed by the credit agencies, to try to set the record straight. She faxed and phoned to no avail because to the credit agencies, Annie did not even exist, Flink reported. 

“And I said, ‘No, no, no, you have to understand that’s not me. You have someone else with the same name,’” Annie said. 

Flink reported that the names were same, they were both from the same state, born the same month, only a year apart, and their Social Security numbers were two digits off. To the credit bureaus, the two were the same person. 

Annie said she tried to point out the error. 

“The reply was, ‘That’s what it says. You must be wrong,’” Annie said. “And I said, ‘How can we fix this?’ And she said, ‘I can’t. Is there anything else I can do for you?’” 

“It’s like you are guilty until you prove you are innocent,” said Donna Perkins of Kansas City Credit Services. 

Perkins said she sees mistakes on most credit reports, and she is frustrated with the credit system.