Expert: Yan Ross - 10/7/2009

Question
I have a $28,221 student loan with ACS.  This appears TWICE on my credit report, the same opening date, same status, same amount, same EVERYTHING.  The only difference is that one says ACS/BRAZOS and the other one says ACS/US BK NTL/THEA-CT2.  Both have the same address.  I contacted ACS and, of course, they confirmed I only have ONE loan for that amount that is held by BRAZOS/US Bank.  But my credit report shows that I have an installment debt of $56,442.00!!  So, of course, that affects my ability to be approved for loans due to an overestimated debt to income ratio.  ACS had no idea how to contact these institutions, but he guessed that both Brazos and US bank have reported the debt.  How can I get this fixed?

Answer
Hello, Tiffany,

Although you did not mention which of the credit reporting agencies carries the duplicate record of your student loan, I would suggest that you write all three of them directly.

You should enclose copies of the current account papers, and a request for each of them to correct their files to reflect a single student loan from ACS.

Also ask for a prompt confirmation of their actions to correct the error.

For your convenience, the credit reporting agencies are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  Contact information is listed and direct links are available at www.annualcreditreport.com

I hope that helps.

Good luck!