Companies reviewing my credit history.

[Anonymous]

If I am not going to apply for credit or have not requested anyone review my account how are people able to do so? I was reviewing my report and a couple had a note that said written authorization... there were also many views, even by Tmobile  who I have used since 1999.  How can I freeze my account and not let it be reviewed without me direct authorization?

[John060675]

Are they doing soft or hard inquiries?  Soft inquiries are very normal and they do not change your FICO score.  It is a way that current creditors see how you are doing and for potential creditors to send you crap mail in hopes of getting your business.

You can have your accounts frozen, which I have done.  Just contact the big 3 (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) and request this.  I am not sure if they changed the process, but when I did mine 3 years ago it was easy and quick.  Do a google search for the exact way of doing it.

[llecs]

Ditto. I think you might be looking at soft inquiries which have no bearing on your credit. T-Mobile used to hit me up all the time. The 3 CRAs will sell your personal info unless you opt out, though "written authorization" would be indicative of a possible pull.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps they were soft inquiries? So I will send a written letter asking that I opt out and that my account be frozen from inquiries? Is that correct?  Thank you.

[chasmith]

Companies where you have, or in some cases had in the past, a credit relationship can pull your credit for Account Management or Account Review purposes.  Others can get a partial summary of your report for marketing purposes.  These are "soft pulls" and aren't reported on the version of your report that goes when you apply for credit, and aren't counted for scoring purposes.

You generally only see these on a direct report from the CRA, like your free annual report.  For example (the categorization as "hard" or "soft" is mine):

Equifax breaks inquiries in to two sections, "Inquiries that may impact you credit rating" (hard) and "Inquiries that will not impact your credit rating" (soft).

Experian lists "Inquiries shared with others" (hard), and "Inquiries shared only with you" (soft).

TransUnion breaks out three categories, "Regular Inquiries" (hard), Promotional Inquiries (soft) and "Account Review" (soft).  TransUnion also shows the "permissable purpose" on many inquiries.

[AndySoCal]

I would advise you to review your cardholder agreement. In most cardholder and other agreements you give the creditor permission to review your credit history.

[haulingthescoreup]

---

@chasmith wrote:

Companies where you have, or in some cases had in the past, a credit relationship can pull your credit for Account Management or Account Review purposes.  Others can get a partial summary of your report for marketing purposes.  These are "soft pulls" and aren't reported on the version of your report that goes when you apply for credit, and aren't counted for scoring purposes.

You generally only see these on a direct report from the CRA, like your free annual report.  For example (the categorization as "hard" or "soft" is mine):

Equifax breaks inquiries in to two sections, "Inquiries that may impact you credit rating" (hard) and "Inquiries that will not impact your credit rating" (soft).

Experian lists "Inquiries shared with others" (hard), and "Inquiries shared only with you" (soft).

TransUnion breaks out three categories, "Regular Inquiries" (hard), Promotional Inquiries (soft) and "Account Review" (soft).  TransUnion also shows the "permissable purpose" on many inquiries.

---

+1

Promo soft inquiries don't show the gory (or gorgeous) details on your history; just very general info like your demographics. These can be blocked by opting out.

If you're a customer of a given lender, the lender can review your full report under the justification of account maintenance or review. These can't be blocked.

[RobertEG]

The entire intent of FCRA 604 is to define situations that authorize a permissible purpose for requesting your CR without the need for specfic, written authorization. FCRA 604(a).  Your pre-authorization is only required if they dont otherwise have a permissible purpose.   

If you have intitiated a business or credit transaction, or have an active account with a credtior, they do not need specific written authorization to access your full CR.  It is their right.  There is no statutory provision for denying those with a permissible purpose access to your CR.  There are some provisions under the fraud alert sections of the statute limiting what they may do with information, but they dont deny the basic right to access.