Collection agency hard pulling me

[Anonymous]

There is an old collection acct on my report and I am in the process of getting it removed because it's not mine. It's not easy removing but the other thing is that during the removal process, the collection agency hard pulled me. Has anybody had this experience and what did you do to get the hard pull removed? I know that they have permissable purpose for some instances but in this case, it's not my accounts. They are just linking me because it was a family member but I have nothing to do with this acct in any way.

Has anybody had this happen?

[Shogun]

If you can prove the account is not yours, then the HP would not be permissable.

[Anonymous]

Why would they hard pull me? Couldn't a company soft pull you and get the same information? I feel like it was done just to be jerks. Which seems like harrassment. Because before I started the dispute, they never pulled me at all.

[Anonymous]

If the account is not yours and you have no financial liability connection to it then I would assume there to be no permissible purpose. You would need to go through the standard DV and dispute processes to prove you have no association with the debt and one you have that validated in writing. After, you would need to dispute with the CRAs as not having permissible purpose (search the forums for examples). A Mod or über-experienced user could confirm however if you indeed have no financial connection to the debt you should be good to go. Were you simply a reference for the relative or are you an AU or co-signer? If one if the latter I believe they have permissible purpose. If only a reference then no.

[Anonymous]

My typing is slow - Shogun swooped in

[Anonymous]

Not to mention autoincorrect took over

[RobertEG]

For credit reporting purposes, the debt is yours until such time as proven otherwise, either by their concurrence in a dispute or debt validation process, or civil action to receive a review of all the facts.   An assertion of account/debt not mine has procedures for proof or credit report exclusion.  What steps have been taken to support "account not mine?"

A debt collector need only have authorized collection authority to obtain permissibe purpose under FCRA 604.  The issue of hard vs soft coding is unregulated.

Any permissible inquriy other than one pertaining only to promotional inquires can accurately be coded as a so-called "hard" inquiry, as the statute permits their inclusion in credit reports viewable by others.