Shady dealer pulled my credit

[llecs]

Not defending anyone, but they still would have to pull your credit at some point in time. Even if they advertised that they'll pull a Beacon 5.0 score (same as on myFICO for those reading this), they would have to pull to make sure your DTI was in check. They have to make sure that the potential borrower can afford a monthly payment based on the reported obligations.

[Anonymous]

Not at all saying they won't have to pull my credit if I do buy a car, but we did not come to an agreement on the price of that car, and I'm not buying it.

[RobertEG]

They must show, as a bare minimum, that they are negotiating a business transaction with you.  That is all they must self-assert to the CRA to obtain your CR under FCRA 604(a)(3)(A).  The best way for them to assure their pull authority is to obtain prior written permission from you to access your CR.  You concede that you were negotiating a business transaction with them.  For them to decide on whether or not to sign a contract of sale with you that involve the extension of credit, it is just reasonable to expect that they would secure this information before "sale" of the vehicle.

I would suspect that this dealership probably got your John Doe on something to indicate negotiations with you.  Even if they did not, one does not go into a car dealership and give them ID unless you are "negotiating."  Prio contract of sale is not required.  Otherwise, the entire negotiation process would come to a standstill

I dont dispute your logic, and dont dispute theirs.

[Anonymous]

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@RobertEG wrote:

Even if they did not, one does not go into a car dealership and give them ID unless you are "negotiating."  Prio contract of sale is not required.  Otherwise, the entire negotiation process would come to a standstill

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Really? That doesn't seem right to me. We were negotiating the purchase price of the vehicle. Obviously that doesn't tie them into the sale of the vehicle if it turns out I can't finance the car. If I was paying cash we would still be negotiating the price of the sale, but they would have no reason to pull my credit. We needed to come to an agreement on the purchase price of the car before we moved forward with the transaction. There's no reason prior to that for anything to ever be signed, at least there hasn't ever been any of the other times I've purchased cars. Why would a John Doe be needed to indicate negotiations? If a car is 15K and I offer 14K, nothing needs to be signed for them to tell me yes, no, or how about this price instead. I'm not seeing how the negotiation process would come to a standstill without a signature. Giving them a copy of my driver's license (and often insurance card) has nothing to do with negotiations, it has to do with their liability while letting you test drive their vehicle.

[RobertEG]

Because you indicated interest in their loan financing as part of the negotiation.  Car deals are not just about the sales price, they are about the total deal.

Sure, if you just walk in the door, never discuss financing, reach a contract and pay cash, then they have no right to a credit check.

Regardless, it will be gone after one year, and is really not a major credit scoring factor, so I have exhausted my comments on this thread

I wish you well!

[Anonymous]

It's illegal for them to pull credit without your permission. Go back, threaten a lawsuit and see how fast they move. Sorry that my advice is extreme and maybe late, but those are facts. If you deal with FACTS, you find that your negotiations are faster and things like this get taken care of. Because the pull was NOT authorized, I bet you CAN get the agencies to remove them. That said, it isn't easy. I noticed some posts here that say you can't do this. I bet you CAN. It is a basic tenet of law that if something is illegal, it cannot be part of a legitimate transaction and any court in the land would force the reversal. 

I am sure they will claim you verbally authorized it, but check and see if, by law, they need a signature.

If there was ANY damage to your credit score, you have a legitimate formal complaint. I would sue in circuit court, not small claims because they have to answer in a different manner, hire a lawyer, etc. You can also get punitive damages because this is not a contract case. You can also demonstrate that they KNEW (or should have known - that is legal language) that you were shopping for a car, and that pulling your credit would do a number of things;1) Tell them or their competitors where you've been shopping 2) lower your score in a time when a) you are shopping for a vehicle and that the pulling of your credit at every dealer would eventually lower your score, thereby causing you damage, a reason to sue.

Wind up? :  Call the dealership, threaten them with a lawsuit using this information, tell them to call the agency and have it removed by telling the agency it was in error.  If they don't....................sue them in circuit court.

[Anonymous]

who determines whether or not you were actually negotiating or just "checking around".

There is no real damage,  don't forget that the agencies don't regrade your credit after EVERY pull...they allow a couple of weeks, because they "understand" that you are shopping around for a car, mortgage, etc.

I still say you have grounds for a suit, although a weak one, but NOT frivilous. Who knows many times a day they do this to people without permission??? You can find out during discovery in the lawsuit...you might find that they do it as a matter of course and 99 out of 100 people don't know, don't care or don't know it's wrong.

If you're mad enough, go sue them. Sometimes, it can be fun and entertaining.

[Anonymous]

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Sure, if you just walk in the door, never discuss financing, reach a contract and pay cash, then they have no right to a credit check.

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This is what I was thinking.  Part of your "negotiation" was based on you having a credit score high enough to qualify for the interest rate.  If you were paying cash, they would have never pulled a credit report. 

[Anonymous]

Credit scores change, so the dealer would not take your word that your score was above 760.  Because you told the dealer not to pull your score, they should have told you that it would be necessary.  If you really wanted  their vehicle, why not allow the dealer to pull your score?  Your score determines the finance charge percentage.

[Anonymous]

With all due respect to others, the poster has no case.

You gave them permission when you provided your personal documentation when you test drove the vehicle.

The Dealer has the right to pull your credit report on “ANY” type of negotiations.