@JBjunior wrote:
Last August I purchased a considerable piece of land on a 10-year 3.0% promissory note linked to a deed of trust. The loan is held by a family member and I never authorized a credit check and one was never completed. The deed to the land was transferred to me and there is just wording about the land being tied to the completion of the loan. The family member is in need of cash and is shopping the promissory note to mortgage and note buyers at this time. One pulled my credit today through a secondary company and stated that he had a valid reason to do so. I understand that someone who has a valid reason can do an inquiry but it still irks me that the company is able to do this and it seems that I would have had to give permission at least initially or something. Basically the person who I currently owe money to could once a month shop this out for the next two years and I could have a plethora of inquiries and it doesn't seem that it could be legal without my consent. The mortgage buyer company uses Microbilt to do their checks and he attempted to get them to change it to a soft pull and they stated that while he can change all of his inquiries to soft pulls in the future they can't do it retroactively. Is anyone familiar with anything like this?
On a secondary question, since this posted as of yesterday and I was going to be shopping for a home mortgage in the next few months is this week a good time to shop for one since there is already two hard inquiries for mortgage companies on my credit and it will look like I have been shopping for one anyway?
It sounds as though your credit report may have been pulled without permissible purpose, which is illegal. It sounds as though it's your family member, not you, seeking the sale of the promissory note. Unless you gave permission for your credit to be pulled, I can't see how the prospective mortgage/note buyer had cause to pull YOUR report. Unless you were seeking the loan, or the loan had already been purchased by them (establishing themselves as your creditor), or, they had your permission, they're out of luck.
I'd stop communicating with them by phone, and send them a "Permissible Purpose" letter, CMRR (certified mail, return receipt). You can search the forums for an example. I'd also contact the credit bureau(s) where the INQ appeared, and request the stated permissible purpose of the puller, and whether or not they have a signed consent form. I'd also report this to your state's Attorney General. I'd wait 30 + 5 days for mailing for a response, and then I'd sue them for the statutory (and hopefully punitive) damages.
