There may be several reasons an account may appear to be on your Equifax credit report more than once.
Some lenders and creditors issue different types of accounts using similar account numbers, which may look like the same account.
If an account does appear more than once, it may be due to one of the following reasons:
- The account has been transferred or sold to another lender. Sometimes when this occurs, the original lender or creditor will report its account as being "transferred/sold" and then the new lender will begin reporting the new account with a new account number.
- You report your credit card as lost or stolen. The credit card company may report the original account as "lost/stolen" and begin reporting a new account number.
When either of these occur, note that the accounts are considered different accounts and not duplicates.
Keep in mind, student loans may be reported in multiple accounts. This occurs because student loans are reported according to the disbursement of funds and may have similar account numbers.
When reviewing your Equifax credit report, you may want to consider the above scenarios to ensure there are no actual duplications in your file. If you still have questions, contact the lender or creditor. You can also file a dispute with any of the three nationwide credit bureaus reporting the information. Visit our dispute page to learn more about filing a dispute with Equifax.
