Category Archives: News

What Do I Do? My Credit Report Says I’m Dead

Last year, a 91-year-old Marylander had the shock of her life. She discovered that, according to the Social Security Administration, she was already dead. This wasn’t just comical. It immediately impacted her life because, since she was “dead,” she was no longer eligible for the retirement benefits that she lived on. And she isn’t the […]

What Do I Do? My Credit Report Says I’m Dead

Last year, a 91-year-old Marylander had the shock of her life. She discovered that, according to the Social Security Administration, she was already dead. This wasn’t just comical. It immediately impacted her life because, since she was “dead,” she was no longer eligible for the retirement benefits that she lived on. And she isn’t the […]

Hyundai Must Pay More than $19 Million for Furnishing Incorrect Information to Credit Bureaus

Last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Hyundai Capital America (HCA) to pay more than $19 million in penalties for giving inaccurate information to the financial credit bureaus—making this the CFPB’s largest case against an automotive servicer for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Of the penalties, $13 million will impact Hyundai […]

When Married Couples Have the Same Name

Recently, the Wall Street Journal had an article about married couples who wound up having the same name. And this issue may become more common as names previously considered male or female become gender-neutral. For example, in November of 2022, movie star Taylor Lautner married Taylor Dome, who became Mrs. Taylor Lautner. While the article […]

African American Last Names And Credit Errors

A person’s surname can reveal a lot of information about them, particularly their ethnicity or ancestry—but it’s not always safe to assume that you know who someone is because of their last name. Plenty of folks get their name from marriage; others take the name of their adoptive family. Some people make up their name […]

No Need To Buy A Vowel: Most Popular Italian Surnames

You’re probably aware that many Italian surnames have a vowel as the final letter, but the number of them that end with an A, E, I, or O might surprise you. Of the top 100 Italian surnames, 96 fit that convention! Piras, de Angelis, de Santis, and Dal are the only four that do not […]

Germans in America: Fun Facts, Possible Problems

The story of German people in America is as old as the story of America itself. Most people know that immigrants from all over Europe flocked to the United States in the 1800s, but the German population here had some 200 years of American life under their belts by then. A few of the notable […]

Are You Indian-American? Here’s Why You Need to Check Your Credit Report with a Microscope

India is well-known as one of the world’s most populous countries, with just under 1.4 billion people calling that South Asian nation home—but Indians are living all over the globe, of course, and the Indian diaspora is the largest in the world. As of 2020, there are 18 million Indians living outside of their home […]

Japanese-Americans Face Unique Credit Issues Due to Their Surnames

If you had to guess, which U.S. city has the largest population of Japanese-Americans? There’s a good chance you said “San Francisco,” and that’s not far off—but San Fran, or “Soko,” as it was known to the first wave of Japanese immigrants, only comes in third. Honolulu tops the list, followed closely by second-place Los […]

The Impact of Identity Theft on Consumer Credit Reports (Part Two)

If you haven’t yet, read part 1! The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has been studying how identity theft impacts consumers for almost twenty years Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has been studying how identity theft impacts consumers. In its most recent annual report, ITRC has gone beyond the prevalence of identity theft to give […]