Question about freezing CRA

[Anonymous]

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@Shellemilyrose wrote:

Then I would like you and the moderators to tell me why this definition is given for a hard pull, or a hard inquiry:  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hard-inquiry.asp Thanks.  Has the definition not caught up with the law or is it the other way around?

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Unfortunately -- or maybe not -- Investopedia is not the US Congress.  As passed by Congress, neither the FCRA or the FDCPA breaks down inquiries into soft or hard much less defines the differences.

The closest the FCRA comes is by defining when a CRA may show inquiries relating to credit or insurance transactions.  FCRA § 609(c)(3) states:

Information regarding inquiries. Except as provided in section 609(a)(5) [§1681g], a consumer reporting

agency shall not furnish to any person a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction

that is not initiated by a consumer.

In other words, when it comes to credit or insurance transactions, unless the inquiry resulted from a transaction initiated by the consumer the inquiry should not be available for view by those who can pull your credit report.  An inquiry that is not viewable by others who pull your credit report is one we usually refer to as soft.

609(a)(5) [§1681g] deals with inquiries related to child support.

As such, your following statement is false:

Ultimately, it's up to you, but nobody is supposed to be able to do a HARD inquiry on your report unless

you are actively applying for credit.  Period.  Anything other than that should be considered SOFT.  Afterall,

the very definition of a hard inquiry is an inquiry that occurs every time you apply for credit.

A CA inquiry most certainly falls under the category of a credit transaction initiated by you.  The account they are collecting on was one for which you, at one point in time, applied for.  The FCRA in no way states a time reference for when you had to have initiated an account.   

[Anonymous]

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@bichonmom wrote:

I'm no expert and don't agree with it, but this is cut and pasted directly from my EX credit report in the "inquiries shared w/others" section:

The section below lists all of the companies that have reviewed your credit history as a result of action you took, such as applying
for credit or financing or as a result of a collection. The inquiries in this section are shared with companies that view your credit
history.

Maybe someone with more knowledge would be able to quote something from the FTC.

ETA: Also, per my phone call w/EX, freezing my credit report does NOT prevent CAs from doing a hard inquiry.

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You are correct in that a freeze does not prevent a hard inquiry from a CA.

A freeze is designed to stop creditors to whom you have applied for new credit.

[bichonmom]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Shellemilyrose wrote:

Then I would like you and the moderators to tell me why this definition is given for a hard pull, or a hard inquiry:  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hard-inquiry.asp Thanks.  Has the definition not caught up with the law or is it the other way around?

---

Unfortunately -- or maybe not -- Investopedia is not the US Congress.  As passed by Congress, neither the FCRA or the FDCPA breaks down inquiries into soft or hard much less defines the differences.

The closest the FCRA comes is by defining when a CRA may show inquiries relating to credit or insurance transactions.  FCRA § 609(c)(3) states:

Information regarding inquiries. Except as provided in section 609(a)(5) [§1681g], a consumer reporting

agency shall not furnish to any person a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction

that is not initiated by a consumer.

In other words, when it comes to credit or insurance transactions, unless the inquiry resulted from a transaction initiated by the consumer the inquiry should not be available for view by those who can pull your credit report.  An inquiry that is not viewable by others who pull your credit report is one we usually refer to as soft.

609(a)(5) [§1681g] deals with inquiries related to child support.

As such, your following statement is false:

Ultimately, it's up to you, but nobody is supposed to be able to do a HARD inquiry on your report unless

you are actively applying for credit.  Period.  Anything other than that should be considered SOFT.  Afterall,

the very definition of a hard inquiry is an inquiry that occurs every time you apply for credit.

A CA inquiry most certainly falls under the category of a credit transaction initiated by you.  The account they are collecting on was one for which you, at one point in time, applied for.  The FCRA in no way states a time reference for when you had to have initiated an account.   

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While I understand that according to how the law is written, CAs may technically have legal PP; I don't think that it falls within the spirit of the law, or the intention with which it was written. Certainly, as a consumer, it was never my intention when I app'd for credit to allow my creditors (or any CAs, etc.) permission to do a hard inquiry on my CR anytime they chose. Until reading this forum, I never even understood that the law allowed that. Unfortunately, it will probalby take a court case or something major like that to change the way the law is written so that PP and hard and soft inquiries are more defined -- and hopefully the consumer will have more protection under the law. 

[Anonymous]

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@bichonmom wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Shellemilyrose wrote:

Then I would like you and the moderators to tell me why this definition is given for a hard pull, or a hard inquiry:  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hard-inquiry.asp Thanks.  Has the definition not caught up with the law or is it the other way around?

---

Unfortunately -- or maybe not -- Investopedia is not the US Congress.  As passed by Congress, neither the FCRA or the FDCPA breaks down inquiries into soft or hard much less defines the differences.

The closest the FCRA comes is by defining when a CRA may show inquiries relating to credit or insurance transactions.  FCRA § 609(c)(3) states:

Information regarding inquiries. Except as provided in section 609(a)(5) [§1681g], a consumer reporting

agency shall not furnish to any person a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction

that is not initiated by a consumer.

In other words, when it comes to credit or insurance transactions, unless the inquiry resulted from a transaction initiated by the consumer the inquiry should not be available for view by those who can pull your credit report.  An inquiry that is not viewable by others who pull your credit report is one we usually refer to as soft.

609(a)(5) [§1681g] deals with inquiries related to child support.

As such, your following statement is false:

Ultimately, it's up to you, but nobody is supposed to be able to do a HARD inquiry on your report unless

you are actively applying for credit.  Period.  Anything other than that should be considered SOFT.  Afterall,

the very definition of a hard inquiry is an inquiry that occurs every time you apply for credit.

A CA inquiry most certainly falls under the category of a credit transaction initiated by you.  The account they are collecting on was one for which you, at one point in time, applied for.  The FCRA in no way states a time reference for when you had to have initiated an account.   

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While I understand that according to how the law is written, CAs may technically have legal PP; I don't think that it falls within the spirit of the law, or the intention with which it was written. Certainly, as a consumer, it was never my intention when I app'd for credit to allow my creditors (or any CAs, etc.) permission to do a hard inquiry on my CR anytime they chose. Until reading this forum, I never even understood that the law allowed that. Unfortunately, it will probalby take a court case or something major like that to change the way the law is written so that PP and hard and soft inquiries are more defined -- and hopefully the consumer will have more protection under the law. 

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You really should try to understand the FCRA.  CAs not only "technically have PP', the FCRA gives them explicit permission.

There have been court cases.  Hopefully one day you will sit on the Supreme Court and change the law.

[bichonmom]

No goals to be a judge.

Maybe the issue is educating the consumers so we know what our rights really are. A lot of information I had been given previously, I have now learned (since reading the forum) is not accurate. There is so much mis-information out there. (Such as the website the previous poster referenced)

[Shellemilyrose]

Well, there's a lot misinformation in the other direction too.  My mother-in-law still believes that when the consumer pulls their own credit report, that it puts a hard inquiry on your report.  Then of course there is the whole FAKO vs. FICO thing... they should teach more about credit scores in 11th or 12th grade, along with all the FCRA and all of that.

[Shellemilyrose]

I know that this is a reply to an old post, but I've updated my EQ stats accordingly.  It has been a slow process because of the roller coaster economy but my credit picture has improved quite a bit and having additional income has helped too.  I have also decided to unfreeze my credit report from EX but I still won't be purchasing any scores from them since they won't give me my FICO scores with their company.

On a separate note, EQ still hasn't fixed my birthdate on their records yet so I've issued yet another round of corrections and disputes, hopefully, they'll fix it this time.  I now have 3 credit cards including the two mentioned here:

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5.  If I had to do it again, I would- since I did, I've been approved for 2 unsecured credit cards from 2 seperate companies, giving me the opportunity to re-establish a positive history with carefully managed tradelines

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I have also managed to pay down a couple of older debts, even though it would have been easier to let the SOL expire on them.  Unfortunately, an early termination fee was recently added to my CR after I cancelled a service with Sprint.  But overall, I have more breathing room now and I'm glad that I've taken some of the steps that I did.  On all of my open credit card accounts, I have a total credit limit of $1,100 which isn't a lot for most people but it is fine for my situation.