Interesting...

So, if they are simply a servicer for others, then the mystery remains as to who they are sevicing.

There may not even be a debt collector involved, in which case a DV would not be appropriate.

In making any request for a consumer credit report, the requestor must provide a certification of permissible purpose to the CRA.

All I can think of at the moment is to contact the CRA and find if the inquiry was based on an asserted permissible purpose of a debt collector collecting on a debt, or as an original creditor reviewing their own account.