Inquiries

[Anonymous]

My wife just checked her experian credit report and noticed that capital one has been making an inquiry 4 times a month since 2015, what would be the purpose for this and is it normal? Also, she has not even applied for any credit with them.     Below is a list of inquiries......

Account name

CAPITAL ONE

Date of request(s)

04/15/2017

03/04/2017

02/10/2017

01/24/2017

01/07/2017

12/23/2016

12/15/2016

12/07/2016

12/06/2016

11/18/2016

11/10/2016

11/04/2016

10/25/2016

10/18/2016

10/11/2016

09/23/2016

09/17/2016

09/13/2016

09/06/2016

08/26/2016

08/19/2016

08/16/2016

08/06/2016

08/02/2016

07/26/2016

07/19/2016

07/09/2016

06/23/2016

06/17/2016

06/11/2016

06/04/2016

05/27/2016

05/21/2016

05/12/2016

05/05/2016

04/29/2016

04/22/2016

04/15/2016

04/08/2016

03/31/2016

03/25/2016

03/17/2016

03/10/2016

02/27/2016

02/23/2016

02/16/2016

02/06/2016

01/29/2016

01/23/2016

01/15/2016

01/08/2016

01/02/2016

12/24/2015

12/11/2015

12/05/2015

11/28/2015

11/19/2015

11/12/2015

11/06/2015

10/30/2015

10/27/2015

10/17/2015

10/13/2015

08/28/2015

08/22/2015

08/18/2015

08/11/2015

07/28/2015

07/18/2015

07/11/2015

07/07/2015

[RobertEG]

Two possibilities.

One, if she has an account with them, it may be internal account reviews.

Two, they may be inquiries related to promotional offers for credit.  A creditor can send criteria to a CRA and obtain a screening of CRA files and a listing of all consumers who meet the stated criteria.  They obtain only a listing of names and addresses, and no account specific information.

Both of the above are soft inquiries, meaning they can only appear in credit reports provided to her, and not to others.

They normally do not appear in reports obtained via credit monitoring services, and are usually provided only in reports obtained either from annualcreditreport.com or directly by request of the consumer to the CRA.

How did she obtain the report showing the inquiries, and what is their stated permissible purpose?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My wife just checked her experian credit report and noticed that capital one has been making an inquiry 4 times a month since 2015, what would be the purpose for this and is it normal? Also, she has not even applied for any credit with them.     Below is a list of inquiries......

Account name

CAPITAL ONE

Date of request(s)

04/15/2017

03/04/2017

02/10/2017

01/24/2017

01/07/2017

12/23/2016

12/15/2016

12/07/2016

12/06/2016

11/18/2016

11/10/2016

11/04/2016

10/25/2016

10/18/2016

10/11/2016

09/23/2016

09/17/2016

09/13/2016

09/06/2016

08/26/2016

08/19/2016

08/16/2016

08/06/2016

08/02/2016

07/26/2016

07/19/2016

07/09/2016

06/23/2016

06/17/2016

06/11/2016

06/04/2016

05/27/2016

05/21/2016

05/12/2016

05/05/2016

04/29/2016

04/22/2016

04/15/2016

04/08/2016

03/31/2016

03/25/2016

03/17/2016

03/10/2016

02/27/2016

02/23/2016

02/16/2016

02/06/2016

01/29/2016

01/23/2016

01/15/2016

01/08/2016

01/02/2016

12/24/2015

12/11/2015

12/05/2015

11/28/2015

11/19/2015

11/12/2015

11/06/2015

10/30/2015

10/27/2015

10/17/2015

10/13/2015

08/28/2015

08/22/2015

08/18/2015

08/11/2015

07/28/2015

07/18/2015

07/11/2015

07/07/2015

---

1. In the first place they must be soft pulls, so it doesn't matter (if they're hard pulls you've got a serious fraud problem out there somewhere)

2. Banks do soft pulls for a number of reasons. In my experience Capital One does a soft pull every time you do a balance transfer.

[Anonymous]

Capital One's "Credit Wise" updates weekly for cardholders in order to update your profile info and provide you with a TU VS 3.0 score.  I would think that all of these SPs are likely related to that.

[Anonymous]

We were just checking her credit report and saw where they were inquiring so much, she has never applied for any credit from them, but she does get those preaproved offers in the mail all of the time from them, but they go straight to the garbage, and we have opted out of receiving them, but they continue to send them. There was no stated purpose for the inquiries.....

[Anonymous]

We don't have any type of accounts with them at all, that is why it looks suspicious to me....

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say there's anything to be concerned about.  If you don't have any accounts with them, all of this activity simply means that they really like that profile for whatever reason and are keen on getting you to become a customer.

[RobertEG]

If you have opted-out, then the CRA is thereafter barred from providing any listings to any party who has made a promotional inquiry  under FCRA 604(c).

See FCRA 604(e).

Thus, if you have opted-out and the soft pulls are continuing after that date for promotional inquiries, that is a violation of FCRA 604(e).

[Anonymous]

Robert, if that's the case for the OP, what is his best recourse?  Would it be to file a complaint with the CFPB?

[RobertEG]

If the consumer has opted-out, then the prohibition is on the CRA against providing any listing requested under FCRA 604.

If the inquiree clearly requested a listing and the consumer has opted-out, then the CRA is in violation.

One could file a dispute with the CRA challenging the inquiry, file a formal complaint with the CFPB for their review of an asserted violation, or bring your own civil action against the CRA seeking damages for their violation.