Expert: Barnette Law Offices, LLC - 6/25/2009

Question
Hi. I am an international student without SSN. In the past I
had an incident where I did not pay a bill on time and was
contacted by the National Debt Collection Agency. I am not
sure if it has been written off or still in the books. I
think I shouldn't have been charged those bills and still
arguing with the company that charged me. I now have a job
and will be getting my SSN in a week. Will the late payment
before I had the SSN affect my credit score now? Could they
track my new SSN? Anyway, is SSN how credit agencies
identify people? I am very confused. Thank you for your
help.

Answer
KB:

You may already have a credit report if the debt collector reported it under your name and address.  The credit reporting agency would have simply left your SSN blank.  However, and to answer your question, generally yes a SSN is used to identify a consumer.  Still, that does not mean that the debt collector will now report it to your credit report.  In fact, just because you obtain a SSN doesn't mean you'll have a report.  You first need a few tradelines to report to it.  The best way is to ask someone to add you as an authorized user to an aged credit card account.  Two is preferrable insofar as that will generate a score of around a 730.

If the above isn't an option, there are a very few reputable companies who offer this service for a few.  One is Apex Credit Services, LLC.  They are also experts on this forum.  

Jason Barnette
Barnette Law Offices, LLC
1800 Hayes Street; Suite 122
Nashville, TN 37203
615-585-2245
http://www.barnettelawoffices.com