Mixed credit reports are one of those problems that sound rare until they happen to you. When someone else’s data — another person’s debts, addresses, or even criminal records — gets merged into your file, the fallout is immediate: denials, rate hikes, and background check failures that make no sense. Credit bureaus call it a “mixed file,” but what it really is, is a system error with real human costs. There’s a solid explainer here that breaks it down and shows what to do about it: https://www.flokii.com/blogs/view/146461/mixed-credit-report. If your report’s showing accounts you don’t recognize or loans that aren’t yours, don’t waste time fighting automated responses — under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have the right to force the bureaus to separate your data and fix the record. A consumer protection attorney can make that happen when the “dispute” button doesn’t.