what are the laws/rules for hard inquiries?

[jdirilo]

So I posted the other day that I have a ton of hard inquiries(35 on CK) because I've been car shopping and its been such a hassle. Anyway, yesterday my CU pulled my Experian to refi my car(I give up on trading it at this point) and my EX was 581. Today I paid for my EX report and its 563: with three more hard INQ since yesterday. My question is what are the laws or rules for creditors pulling credit so many times within a certain time frame? For example, cap one finance shows a hard INQ twice in one day, and four or five times in the last month. Same with wells Fargo and a few others. I'm wondering if I'm able to dispute any of these, because I thought they could only pull once within thirty day period.

[rckstrscott]

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@jdirilo wrote:
So I posted the other day that I have a ton of hard inquiries(35 on CK) because I've been car shopping and its been such a hassle. Anyway, yesterday my CU pulled my Experian to refi my car(I give up on trading it at this point) and my EX was 581. Today I paid for my EX report and its 563: with three more hard INQ since yesterday. My question is what are the laws or rules for creditors pulling credit so many times within a certain time frame? For example, cap one finance shows a hard INQ twice in one day, and four or five times in the last month. Same with wells Fargo and a few others. I'm wondering if I'm able to dispute any of these, because I thought they could only pull once within thirty day period.

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The laws are pretty straight forward. If you are looking for credit from a bank or lender, they will pull your credit. How many times did you go car shopping and how many lots? Each time they pull your credit, they will rerun your information for that day. If you went to 7 lots and had them all run your credit, well, there ya go.

They cannot make a credit decision 4 days later if the information is not accurate. Accounts could have been added, scores change as information is fluid.

The EX report you pulled and the score associated with it is a FAKE, it will not be the same as any you pulled from a dealer. Consumers have no access to their own FICO scores, there is no place to purchase them.

In addition, many finance companies use Auto Enhanced FICO scores, which you cannot purchase anywhere. 

Now, all INQS will be scored as one if they were all related to auto and all down in a prescribed time period, I think it is like 2 weeks.

-scott

[jdirilo]

So even though I have a TON of auto inquiries in the past weeks, it isn't counting as a ton, only a few? My auto enhanced fico was 523(not sure If that varies by dealer). But how long do they have to pull my credit? I've noticed, for example, that I went to one dealer last week and I saw one hard pull that day from them,and then today saw new hard pulls from that same dealer. Is that normal? Also, is the fico given on this website legit? Or is it also fake? I thought if I pulled my score directly from the bureau its the real thing.

[rckstrscott]

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@jdirilo wrote:
So even though I have a TON of auto inquiries in the past weeks, it isn't counting as a ton, only a few? My auto enhanced fico was 523(not sure If that varies by dealer). But how long do they have to pull my credit? I've noticed, for example, that I went to one dealer last week and I saw one hard pull that day from them,and then today saw new hard pulls from that same dealer. Is that normal? Also, is the fico given on this website legit? Or is it also fake? I thought if I pulled my score directly from the bureau its the real thing.

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In FICO terms they are only counting as one INQ in the scoring model.

Yes, it is unsightly but nothing that cannot be overcome, and it is very common for those seeking mortgages, and auto loans.

In regards to when they report INQS, it depends on the lender who was queried. I got INQS a couple weeks later after my intial run for my auto, it just depends on when they report it. 

Only on Equifax can you purchase a FICO credit score, and there you have to hunt to find it. Experian blocked consumer access to their FICO score in 2009. Transunion does not seel a FICO score. All three sell their own scores, but they clearly (clearly meaning, fine print buried way down on the TOS) states they are not used by lenders.

The two scores you can get here, EQ and TU, are both legitimate FICO scores.

-scott

[guiness56]

The newest FICO model extends the 14 days to 45 days.

[chasmith]

The law is the FCRA, and it sets out "permissable purposes" for pulling credit.  Auto dealers are notorious for doing multiple pulls, they argue they are shopping to get financing for you.  It won't be just the dealer but might be five lenders the dealer is "shopping" your application to.  The Dealer has to have your permission, this may be in the form of a credit application or the fact you don't tell them "under no circumstances are you to pull my credit", they will stretch to get to pull your credit to help them know what kind of customer they're dealing with.  Often if you take a test drive and give them your driver's license to photocopy while you're driving they're pulling your credit.  They are likely to be pulling the "Auto Enhanced" FICO, and as others have pointed out, multiple inquiries as long as they're coded as Auto Loan will be treated as one in scoring.

In my case, shopping and ultimately buying a new car last September, I insisted on speaking to finance before looking at cars.  I wanted to be sure I would have a shot at 0% financing from Ford or I didn't want anything pulled.  As you can see from my signature I have a relatively recent BK7, but had a stellar record with Ford before and after the BK.  The delaer pulled me, Ford pulled me and a couple of other lenders pulled me multiple times that Saturday and Monday.  I wound up taking the new car home Saturday with better 0% funding than the public offer.  I went to the dealership because they participate / sponsor the Stephen Snyder seminars on life after BK, and actually the Finance Manager has gone through BK himself.  I recommend this approach when you know your credit is an issue.