Odd drop-off of lender inquiry

[gamegrrl]

I hit a snag with the loan I was trying to get through a local bank, who we'll call Bank #1: The way they come up with a property valuation figure did not turn out in our favor. So while I'm considering that one, I got a call from Bank #2. He said he'd been thinking about our conversation (I'd not gone beyond the conversation stage with him) and he felt that they had a loan product that would be good for us. I told him about the low value that came back from Bank #1, and that it was a mere 1/3 of our property tax value.

Bank #2 guy said that their valuation model typically comes in within a thousand or two of tax value, so I gave him my info over the phone right then. It was late Friday afternoon, and he said I'd hear back from him on Monday.

Now for the odd part: The inquiry from Bank #2 showed up on the credit reports I monitor right away. I expected that. What I didn't expect was to get a "there's been a change on your credit report" email last night showing that the inquiry from Bank #2 was subsequently deleted. Right after it was put on the report.

I figure it has to be one of two things, and I'd like any input you can offer:

1. It was removed because I am obviously shopping for a mortgage product
2. It was removed because Bank #2 guy didn't like my credit report or the property valuation came back really low and he felt sorry for me and removed it

When I spoke with Bank #2 guy on the phone, I did mention to him that my only hesitation in applying was the potential ding to my scores, as it has been three weeks since I applied with any other lenders. Maybe it was just a kind gesture?

[cdtotten]

That is a pretty strange occurrance. It is extremely rare for a lender to remove a hard inquiry - potentially he re-coded it to a soft (but even that is rare). Although all inquiries within a certain period of time are scored as 1 for mortgage shopping, the inquiries still remain on your report and count towards your total.

[gamegrrl]

That's what I thought. I'll ask him about it when I talk to him today and will update here.