Apple FCU CC Prequalify - led to HP what to do?

[kiwigirl]

Hi,

    I have had quite a few inquiries over the past 12 months that have come from a few sources.. HELOC application and then a refinance a few months later, a Federal Plus Loan, a HP from a credit union for opening a checking account (Grr!!!) and now a hard inquiry triggered on all 3 main agencies from a CU prequalification tool (In this case Apple FCU).

   In this case, the prequalification tool initially tells you 'no impact to your credit score' blah blah.. and you think okay SP no sweat.. you then fill in the form and in my case it then sent me to another form that said we just need a bit more information to get your offers and I filled in some more info along with and here is the critical part.. ticking the box that says the CU will check my credit reports to 'gather my offers'. Now when I did that and clicked submit..  I got the feeling of dread in my stomach as my phone suddenly starting buzzing away with 'credit alerts' and I knew immediately they had done HP's . 

   Honestly at the moment I don't even know if I was denied or not.. my FICO8 scores are pretty decent (e.g around 760) and I have near zero utilization.. good income etc.. but I really didn't want to apply yet as I wasn't really ready and didn't want to eat a hard inquiry. Also critically I am really new to the CU so haven't built up much of a relationship yet.

I know some people say inquiries only hurt your score a few points but I have found that's often irrelevant as I cannot get CLIs on Discover, CapOne and the Apple card right now.. solely because of inquiries and I have also failed to prequalify for even some store cards because of  Inquiries. So I'm very annoyed about it.. but at the same time I really like this CU and if I have to I would just eat the HP and learn from it not to tick boxes from prequalify tools without reading all the small print.

Considering my options atm.. I have researched how people get rid of hard inquiries but some of those methods seem sketchy at best i.e stating it is 'fraud or identity theft'  and although this is not attached to an open account, I'm personally just not comfortable claiming fraud when really this feels like just a bit insidious/misleading on the part of the CU, not really fraud per se, and when it's you against the world (or a multi-billion dollar CU in this case) generally wisdom says 'pick the world' so I am not sure of my options.. 

Is it worth complaining to the CU?.. would they or could they even remove hard inquiries themselves? Again this isn't sour grapes where I got denied.. it was a genuine misunderstanding of their sneaky 'prequalify' process and I am sure there was fine print somewhere which protects them. Just wondering if there are any good options other than just eating the HP? I guess it doesn't last forever at least in the worst case.. Oh and I don't know if I am even approved or have an AA at the moment as it just says 'You're all set! You'll be contacted in 1-2 days for next steps' . 

[coldfusion]

The correct term is a withdrawal of the inquiry/inquiries and yes they can have them withdrawn themselves, they need to initiate it and it'a a 2 step process they need to follow for each inquiry.   A withdrawal doesn't perform a recoding or leave an annotation on your report, it removes the inquiry entirely in effect wiping the slate clean.

You need to call the CU ASAP and tell them that you fallowed their preapproval process because it told you there would be no impact to your score and that you saw nothing that led you to believe that you were actually submitting an application nor that there would be credit inquiries., you did not intend to apply for a card, and if the process did submit an application you want that application voided and the inquiries withdrawn.   Be sure to specifically use the word "withdrawn" when telling them what you want done.  Write down the approximate time(s) tha tyou called and the names of everybody you spoke to as well as a brief synopsis of your conversation as you may need that info later.

If they give you a "too bad, sucks to be you, have a nice life" type response file a complaint online with the NCUA.   Having the approximate time(s) you called and the names of who you spoke will be useful when you're writing out your complaint.

Do NOT file disputes with the CRAs.  They wont process the requests as there was no fraud.

Do NOT file a complaint with the CFPB looking for resolution as this is not within their scope of influence.  They will sometimes forward to the NCUA but they're more likely to cancel out your complaint and tell you to file one instead with the NCUA.  (If this were a bank you'd file a complaint with the FDIC).

If you end up wanting to file with the NCUA this is the URL you'll want to use:  https://mycreditunion.gov/about/consumer-assistance-center/complaint-process  

[kiwigirl]

Thankyou! That's exactly what I was looking for.. let me see if they will withdraw it as you mentioned.. Thanks a lot!

[kiwigirl]

Ugh.. so far I got the 'Ah well you clicked on the box' (which btw clearly stated to 'view offers' not to 'open a credit application') response from their loan team and they clearly were not interested in the facts beyond that. The loan member I spoke to also claimed they can only normally withdraw inquiries if it was fraud/identity theft. He did agree to escalate within the CU but thus far I haven't got the sense they are interested in actually listening/caring and instead just seem to want to make me go away, which is doubly annoying. So at this rate I may have to end up appealing to the NCUA which is very disappointing but I guess I will do that assuming the in-house appeal goes the same way. On the plus side it's made me learn about freezing my credit reports so I won't hit this issue again. 

[kiwigirl]

FWIW, trying to reason with the CU got nowhere not least because they didn't seem to even understand how their prequalify tool actually worked, didn't seem to understand what I was explaining to them, but instead stuck to a false narrative about how they assumed it works (and actually does in a lot of other credit unions) and what they assumed I did.  Since they never actually refuted anything I stated, or offered any evidence to support their own (again false) assumptions which incidentally they kept regurgitating despite me explaining for example  'but your app actually doesn't work like that! I even have screenshots..' , honestly I just got the strong impression that they just wanted me to go away and not force them to really look into it. Not exactly wow'ed by how they treated me here but I'm pursuing some other avenues to make this right. 

Anyway thanks for all the advice!! 

[IcyCool7227]

So did you actually get approved or not? I mean maybe on the bright side if you were approved and could let it sink in, it's not such a bad thing at all. Just my 2 cents.

[kiwigirl]

Ugh.. About a week later I finally received an AA letter. 

I think there were 3 checked reasons and one of them was supposedly a requested line ($50000)

on a card which was ($35000) and no I never entered '50000' anywhere since I was just curious

what the 'prequalify' tool would do .. another **bleep** aspect of this..

I think the other two were recent enquirys (2 in 6 months) and recent high utilization which maybe? was pre June 2024 when I did have maxed out CCs and a 640ish Fico score but since then I have consistently had 0-5% utilization.. so I'm still very upset with the situation but I'm mostly over it and moving on at this point. I always planned to wait around 6 months before seeking any credit products from them and I guess I am still on that track so in the end could be worse! 

[Patient957]

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@coldfusion wrote:

Do NOT file disputes with the CRAs.  They wont process the requests as there was no fraud.

I disagree with this.  Based on what the OP wrote, the language on the prequal tool clearly states 'no impact to your credit'.  To then perform a triple HP, in my view, is fraud, at least arguably.  And since it's arguable, I would go ahead and make that argument in good faith.

I would call the CRAs and try to get the HPs removed for fraud, because I have a good faith belief it is actually fraud.

I would never advocate lying about fraud to get a HP removed.  But I don't think this would be lying. 

Edit to add:  I've heard that people have been successful at getting HPs removed by stating the HP was "unauthorized".  You may not necessarily need to use the F-word.  But still, speaking for myself in the same situation, I wouldn't hesitate to say "fraud" if saying "unauthorized" wasn't enough. 

[fullstackdev]

I’m really sorry this happened to you—it’s definitely frustrating. I’ve used their prequalification tool before, and I can see how it could be confusing. From my experience, if you complete the prequal form and they don’t find any matches, they prompt you to provide more information. However, what isn’t made clear is that at this stage, you’re actually transitioning from a prequalification application to a regular credit application. Unfortunately, they don’t provide any notice or clear explanation about this shift, which can be misleading. I've never completed the "more information" section because it did not have any clear language stating there would be no impact to credit score.

[IcyCool7227]

Kiwigirl, you have a valid complaint to file with Cold Fusion's advice. Go file with the NCUA if the credit union won't work with you to remove the HPs. I'd be frustrated in your shoes too and not only should they remove the HPs but they should update the language on the pre approval feature to reflect more clearly. Take screenshots or print a PDF of what appears on their prequalified offers for evidence. Good luck!