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Understanding Twins

What Twins Need to Know About Mixed Credit Reports

Twins need to be wary of possible mixed-credit reports.

Key points

  • Twins pose unusual legal circumstance that require unusual legal remedies.
  • Twins are more likely to have mixed-credit reports than anyone else.
  • There are attorneys who can help twins resolve mixed-credit report errors.
  • New areas of law pertaining to twins may emerge in the future.
Identical Twins Are Likely to Receive Mixed-Credit Reports
Identical Twins Are Likely to Receive Mixed-Credit Reports
Source: Nancy L. Segal, Ph.D.

I have provided legal services to lawyers litigating twin cases concerning wrongful death, injury, custody, school placement, immigration, and cheating. However, there is another area of the law with relevance to twins of which I was unaware until recently: mixed-credit reporting.

It seems that twins are far more likely to have mixed credit reports than anyone else. This situation is associated with the fact that twins share their birthday, last name, and current or previous addresses. Furthermore, twins can have Social Security numbers that are only one digit apart. Of course, twins do not have exactly the same names, but they are often given similar first names and/or middle names: John and Jack, Jean and Joan, Larry and Barry, or Peggy Sue and Mary Sue, for example.

Mixed-credit reports come in a variety of forms:

A fragmented file includes most of one twin’s data in the other twin’s file. This oversight can occur despite the fact that each individual twin would have filed a separate report.

A merged file combines both twins’ data into a single report.

A mix-in and mix-out occurs when one twin has the data for both twins and the other twin has a blank file, indicating no credit history.

According to attorney William Clanton, based in Texas, several hundred lawyers in the United States are able to work with twins on these issues.

Tod Lewis, PLLC, based in Austin, Texas, maintains a website for his services and has contacts with the national organization of parents of twins, known as Multiples of America (MOA). My association with MOA led to my discovering a report of Lewis’s work by one of the club's members (Barr, 2024). Lewis indicated that while all twins are at risk of losing funds and missing out on credit opportunities, not all twins face equal risk. The twins most susceptible to mixed credit are young adults who are just starting to apply for credit cards and submit loan applications. Lewis maintains an essay about these issues and their resolution on his website (Lewis, 2024). Interestingly, Lewis claims that credit agencies hold the twins’ parents responsible for these errors since they named their children in similar ways. However, Lewis argues—correctly—that mothers and fathers are free to choose the names they prefer for their children

Clanton is a specialist in consumer protection law with offices in San Antonio and Houston. In April 2024, he posted guidelines for twins, alerting them to the possibility of mixed credit, how to avoid it, and how to manage it if it happens (Clanton, 2024). Clanton learned of twins’ special circumstances when he was contacted by a twin experiencing credit issues with her sister and began examining the situation more closely.

Clanton claims that twins with similar names are at greatest risk, but that twins, in general, are at greater risk than other individuals. He explained that United States credit agencies only have to match seven of nine Social Security numbers in order to link two reports together; this would jeopardize the reports of twins with numbers differing by just one digit, especially if they had similar sounding names and/or matching addresses. He claims that gender is not a key factor in this situation, although twins named Jack and Joan would be more likely to have mixed credit reports than twins named Jack and Lisa. Linking of individuals and data is done by algorithms developed by the credit agencies; exceptional data can be included in these algorithms, but not in all cases.

Twins pose novel situations that warrant attention from professionals across many disciplines. I am always impressed, but no longer surprised, by the unusual situations twins pose that need special application and/or revision of guidelines and practices. It is very likely that other novel circumstances will affect twins in the future, requiring insight, innovation, and patience by parents and professionals.

A longer version of this article will be forthcoming in the journal, Twin Research and Human Genetics.

References

Barr, S. (November 2024). “Incorrect Credit Reports? You Should Check!” Multiple Connections, p. 15.

Clanton, B. (16 April, 2024). “Understanding Your Credit Report: A Guide for Twins.” clantonlawoffice.com/twins-mixed-credit-file/

Lewis, T. (2024). “Troubles For Doubles—Problems with Mixed Credit Reports?” https://www.twinsmixedcredit.com/ (website under construction).

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