Unauthorized Hard Inquiry

[Anonymous]

I've been working hard to improve my Fico score and today I received an alert that my score dropped 6 points because of a Hard Inquiry dated 12/11/2014.  I have not applied for any type of credit!  It seems to be for a Fingerhut account, which I have never had nor want.  I have filed a dispute with Equifax that I did not authorize the inquiry.  I tried calling the number listed on the inquiry and of course their credit department is closed until Monday morning.  My bigger concern is someone has opened this account fraudently in my name.  I am also unhappy about the high hit to my Fico and credit scores.  What other recourse do I have?  Is it legal to do a hard pull inquiry without authorization?  Any advice appreciated!  Miss D

[RobertEG]

Yes, it is legal to make an inquiry without specific authorization from the consumer.

However, the consumer must have initiated some event that gives the party permissible purpose.

The structure of section 604 of the FCRA is to promote efficient business and credit transactions without need for specific authorization from the consumer.

It does so by defining certain business and credit transactions that carry, in and of themselves, authority for the party to pull a consumer's credit report.

The defined purposes are called permissible purposes.

The most common type are requests for credit initiated by a consumer, and business transactions initiated by the consumer for which the business has a legitimate business purpose to review the consumer's credit as a part of the transaction.

If the party does not have a permissible purpose known to you, it could be that they obtained such permissible purpose via identity theft.

It is prudent to contact the inquiree and inquire as to their purpose.

[Anonymous]

I dont understand how it can be legal when I have NEVER provided my information to the company or attempted to obtain credit from them.  I have NEVER shopped at Fingerhut or initated anything to give them any sort of authorization to pull my credit.  This hard pull has damaged my credit score. It's permissable for any company to simply pull my credit because they want me to open an account?  That is permissible???  That is insane.  

I have tried to file online disputes with all 3 credit bureaus, and unfortunately their credit department is closed until Monday morning.  They will have to explain to me Monday morning why they did a hard pull on my credit when I never initiated any contact with them or attempted to open an account.

[ojefferyo]

If you did not authorize it and have never done business with them then it is not legal for them to pull your report.