Inquiry from Troon Company LLC

[copperrain]

I completed a chapter 13 and was discharged on April 1, 2014 and have been carefully monitoring my credit. Yesterday I got an alert that Experian was reporting a new inquiry. It is from Troon/Acquisition Management in Macon GA. My score actually went up 5 points but I did not contact these people or request any additional credit from anyone so I did a little google search on them. Their website says: "Troon Company, LLC is a financial services company that purchases and collects charged off or otherwise delinquent consumer debt. Since we purchase accounts for our own portfolio, we are able to offer more flexible repayment terms than the original creditor or a traditional collection agency.  We look forward to working with you to help resolve your account." 

The only thing I've done lately is opt-in to receive firm pre-offers from the optoutprescreen.com website. I'm not sure if the two things are related.

Obviously I'm ok with the 5 point bump but should I be concerned? Annoyed? Neutral? 

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@copperrain wrote:

I completed a chapter 13 and was discharged on April 1, 2014 and have been carefully monitoring my credit. Yesterday I got an alert that Experian was reporting a new inquiry. It is from Troon/Acquisition Management in Macon GA. My score actually went up 5 points but I did not contact these people or request any additional credit from anyone so I did a little google search on them. Their website says: "Troon Company, LLC is a financial services company that purchases and collects charged off or otherwise delinquent consumer debt. Since we purchase accounts for our own portfolio, we are able to offer more flexible repayment terms than the original creditor or a traditional collection agency.  We look forward to working with you to help resolve your account." 

The only thing I've done lately is opt-in to receive firm pre-offers from the optoutprescreen.com website. I'm not sure if the two things are related.

Obviously I'm ok with the 5 point bump but should I be concerned? Annoyed? Neutral? 

Thanks!

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Be Wary. They likely have purchased some recent debt,  zombie debt, or maybe even BK discharged debt - yes there ARE companies that buy up BK discharged debt and try to collect it. How they legally do this is still a mystery to me.

[copperrain]

would disputing help? What should I be on the lookout for? My bk records are in good order so I feel confident that I can defend any questions but any tips would be welcome. Is it possible that opting in to the optoutscreen site triggered something?'

[Anonymous]

No, there is really nothing to dispute. The CRA will simply tell you its a point of fact that they accessed your file. Probaly just coincidental if its a hard pull and not a soft pull.

AFAIK the opt-out only stops soft pulls.

[RobertEG]

Credit inquiries are not limited to parties with whom you have initiated a request for credit.

There are numerous other permissible purposes for which a party may access your credit report.  They are all contained in FCRA 604.

The purpose of section 604 is to define situations where a party does not need your express approval.

A party who has purchased your debt or who is evaluating such a transaction has permissible purpose.

However, if your debt was discharged, you no longer have the debt, and thus they would NOT have had a permissible purpose.

If they were aware of that fact and nonetheless pulled your credit report, that constitutes knowingly obtaining a consumer report without a permissible purpose, which subjects them to actual an punitive damages pursuant to FCRA 616(a)(1)(B), and to criminal prsecution under FCRA 619.

I would file a formal complaint with the CFPB for violation of FCRA 604, having obtained your credit report without permissible purpose.

Resolution of that complaint could result in removal of the inquiry.  More importantly, it should lead to sanctions that will prevent them from repeating such action with others.

[copperrain]

Thank you for your fast, helpful information. I will file a complaint as recommended by RobertEG. I am more than willing to sacrifice my 5 point bump for the team!

[gdale6]

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@copperrain wrote:

Thank you for your fast, helpful information. I will file a complaint as recommended by RobertEG. I am more than willing to sacrifice my 5 point bump for the team!

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The inquiry is not the cause of your score bump its the trigger to update the score, something else changed on your report and the score would prob be even a little higher without the new inquiry

[copperrain]

Thanks, I didn't realize that. The update said "New Inquiry" and a little green +5 so I thought they were one and the same. Now I'm even more happy to file a complaint!