You pull your credit report and there it is. An account you never opened. An address you've never lived at. A collection for a debt that was never yours.

You're not imagining it. The CFPB lists both "accounts belonging to another person with the same or a similar name" and "incorrect accounts resulting from identity theft" among the credit report errors to look for.

Those are two different problems. They look alike on the page, but the law gives each one its own fix, and taking the wrong path costs you time.

What's the difference between a mixed file and identity theft?

A mixed file is a credit bureau error that puts someone else's information on your report, usually a person with the same or a similar name. Identity theft is fraud: someone used your identifying information without permission to open or use accounts. A mixed file gets fixed through a standard dispute. Identity theft has its own blocking process under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The difference is what sits underneath the line item. In a mixed file, the account belongs to a real person. Just not you. In identity theft, the account was opened in your name by someone who had no right to use it, and that's why the law gives you a separate, faster way to get it off your report.

How do I tell which one I'm dealing with?

Start with the personal information section at the top of each report, then read the accounts. A name, address, or employer that belongs to someone else points to a mixed file. Accounts you never opened, sitting next to personal information that's all correct, point to identity theft.

Signs of a mixed file:

  • A version of your name that isn't yours: a different middle initial, or a Jr. or Sr. that doesn't fit.
  • An address you've never lived at.
  • An employer you never worked for.
  • Accounts that line up with someone who has a name like yours.

Signs of identity theft:

  • Your name, addresses, and employers are right, but there are accounts you never opened.
  • Hard inquiries from lenders you never applied with.

Pull all three reports. Each bureau keeps its own file, so an error on one report may not show up on the others. Free weekly reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are permanently available at AnnualCreditReport.com. Read every one line by line.

One more case: a relative who used your information. Under federal rules, identity theft is "a fraud committed or attempted using the identifying information of another person without authority," and that definition has no family exception. Whether to file a report that involves a family member is your decision, and a hard one. Just know that the blocking rights below run on that report.

How do I get identity theft removed from my credit report?

Report it to the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov to get an FTC Identity Theft Report, then send each bureau a copy along with proof of your identity, the specific items, and a statement that you didn't authorize them. Under section 605B of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the bureau has to block that information within 4 business days of receiving it.

Here's the order I'd work in:

  1. Report it at IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC says the report you get there "is an official report to law enforcement" and "sufficient documentation to resolve issues with the credit bureaus and most companies."
  2. Ask each bureau to block the fraudulent items. Send the report, proof of identity, each item that isn't yours, and a statement that you didn't authorize any of it. Once information is blocked, the FTC says, it won't show up on your credit report, and companies can't try to collect the debt from you. The bureau also has to notify the company that reported it.
  3. Send the report to the company that reported the account. Under the FCRA, once that company receives an identity theft report at the address it designates, it may not keep reporting the information unless it later learns the information is correct.
  4. Add an extended fraud alert. With an identity theft report, you qualify for an extended fraud alert that lasts seven years. Contact one bureau, and it has to pass the alert to the others. While it's on your file, a lender has to contact you before opening new credit in your name, and you come off prescreened credit offer lists for five years. It's free.
  5. Freeze your credit at all three bureaus. A freeze is free to place and lift, and while it's in place, the FTC says, "nobody can open a new credit account in your name, including you." Here's what a freeze does and doesn't do.
  6. File a police report if you need one. The FTC says to go to your local police if you have information about a suspect or if a specific company asks for a police report as part of its dispute process.

A block isn't a blank check. The bureau is allowed to decline or remove one if it reasonably decides the block was made in error, was based on a material misrepresentation, or that you got goods, services, or money from the transaction, and it has to tell you promptly if it does. The block exists for real fraud, not for accounts you'd rather not have.

How do I fix a mixed credit file?

Dispute the wrong information with each bureau that shows it and with the company that reported it. The CFPB says to include your contact information, each error with its account number, and copies of documents that support your position. For a mixed file, that means documents showing who you are and which accounts are yours.

List everything that isn't yours, item by item: each account, each address, each name variation, each employer. Send copies, not originals, of documents that prove your identity and your address.

From there, the law puts the bureau on a clock. It gets 30 days to investigate, or up to 45 if you send relevant information during the first 30. It has 5 business days to pass your dispute to the company that reported the information, and 5 business days after it finishes to send you the results in writing. Here's the full dispute process, step by step.

A deletion is supposed to stick. The FCRA says the bureau can't put deleted information back unless the company that reported it certifies it's complete and accurate, and if it does reinsert something, it has to tell you in writing within 5 business days. Keep pulling your reports after a fix so you catch it if something returns.

What if the credit bureau won't fix an item that isn't mine?

File a CFPB complaint once your dispute is no longer pending or more than 45 days have passed. The CFPB requires you to go to the bureau first. If a bureau still won't correct the error, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to sue.

That order matters now. The CFPB's notice for credit reporting complaints says you're "required by law to first dispute the information directly with the credit or consumer reporting agency," and the CFPB will stop processing your complaint if the company tells it you didn't. Once a complaint is in, the CFPB says companies generally respond within 15 days, and in some cases give a final response within 60. Here's how the dispute-first rule works.

The last step is court. A company that willfully violates the FCRA is liable for your actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, plus punitive damages the court allows and attorney's fees. A negligent violation carries actual damages and attorney's fees.

The order that works

  1. Pull all three reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and read them line by line.
  2. Sort every item that isn't yours: someone else's information (mixed file) or accounts opened in your name (identity theft).
  3. For identity theft, get your FTC Identity Theft Report, send block requests to each bureau and to the company that reported the account, then add an extended fraud alert and a freeze.
  4. For a mixed file, dispute with each bureau and each company that reported the wrong information, with copies of your identity documents.
  5. Write down the date every letter goes out.
  6. File a CFPB complaint only after the dispute is finished or more than 45 days have passed.

If you're a client of mine, text me at 1-877-892-6691 before you send anything, and we'll sort the items together so each one goes down the right path. If we haven't worked together, walk through your report with me on a free call. I'll read it line by line and show you which items look like a mixed file, which look like identity theft, and what each one needs.