FAQ's For Mortgage Brokers
Sometimes credit reports show only one or two credit scores. Why?
There are many reasons for this occurrence, among the most common are:
- Consumer has not had any activity on open accounts in the past 3 months.
- Consumer has insufficient credit history to calculate a score - new accounts or not enough established credit.
- Parameters that are too large, meaning the file contains over 100 tradelines and inquiries combined.
- Incomplete data entered when report was requested (Example: middle initial required, suffix, etc.)
- A deceased code was reported to the credit bureaus under the consumer. We’ll talk about that in the next questions.
- Consumer was reported as being a victim of fraud.
- Consumer has an additional (duplicate) unmerged credit file with any of the three credit bureaus.
- Incomplete address was entered to access the credit report (2-year minimum required).
- An incorrect social security number was entered to access the credit report
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More than one social security number is showing on the credit report. What to do?
Most of the time, the consumer has to verify their social security number directly with the consumer assistance centers at the bureau level.
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Various names appear on the credit report. How do I know if they really belong to the consumer?
Your credit report has a section entitled: AKA Information. This section shows the various ways the consumer's file has been accessed. For example, let's say the consumer's name is Robert S. Schmith. Consumer applies for credit and the processor enters the consumer's name in the following incorrect formats:
Rob Smith, Robert Smith, Bob Schmith, or Bob S Smith.
This will generate four name variations under the heading AKA Information due to human error. However, the report corresponds to the same consumer because there are no warnings or different social security number or address from what was entered.
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Why do we see duplicate information on the tri-merge reports?
A tri-merge report pulls data from the 3 credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The information we display in a merge report comes directly from the bureaus. A duplicate may be displayed because one of the bureaus is reporting a partial account number or the creditor’s name is displayed differently. For example:
- Creditor: CITI Account Number: 543298458723 Reported Under: XPN, TU
- Creditor: CITI Financial Services Account Number: 54329845 Reported Under: EFX
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Student loans may be duplicated, what should I do?
The account number for most student loans is the borrower's social security number. If the borrower has more than one loan, the account numbers normally will only vary by the last 2 digits.
If the consumer’s credit report contains incorrect information, he or she must contact first the creditor to resolve the error and request a letter stating the correction. Acranet has a rescore service in which erroneous information may be changed permanently at the bureau level. Please review our products and services menu.
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What is an RMCR (Residential Mortgage Credit Report)?
An RMCR verifies information on outdated tradelines. Through this process more recent and valid information can be reflected on the credit report since the processor actually verifies directly with the creditor.
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Why is the creditor or the bureau reporting the consumer as deceased? What can we do to correct this?
First you need to determine which creditor is reporting the consumer as deceased. Often, the account in question is a joint account and the other party is the deceased party. In this case, the creditor needs to correct the activity code with the bureau. Once the correction takes place, the credit scores will become available.
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In the Alerts section, the message says "Social Security Number Not Issued" Where do the credit bureaus get information on social security numbers and what can we do to confirm this?
The Social Security Administration provides lists of newly issued social security numbers to the credit bureaus every 30 days. This is an ongoing process so it is safe to assume that the message received from the credit bureau is correct. If the consumer still disagrees with the message, he/she should request a letter to Social Security Administration stating that the number was assigned to him/her.
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How are business credit reports pulled?
Acranet provides business reports from Experian (formerly TRW). Normally these are pulled using the business' tax identification number or the business' name. The only instance you may need to use a social security number is when the owner is a sole-proprietor and it is not incorporated.
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