Advanta placed a hard inquiry on my file, and I gave them my Biz FEIN, NOT MY SOCIAL

[Achieve2012]

Can Advanta check my personal credit and place a hard inquiry on my personal file, when I gave them my corporation fein (federal employer ID) as the social security number. Is this okay? And the worst part is, I decided not to go ahead with the application after reading some posts here. I did not give them my social security number, so can I dispute it that way, or will it now work becuase my social is associated with my corporation FEIN? Does anyone know.

[llecs]

I won't comment on the dispute part, but I do know from using them in the past, that they do require a PG. Someone from Advanta probably did some research and found your SSN.

[Junejer]

How did you app? Did it have your name and address on the application, or just the business name? If you had your name and address on that biz app, you implied PG, IMO. They can pull your CR with just name and address. Trust me, I have done this many times before in the past.

[Achieve2012]

Yes, I had both my business name and my personal name on the application. I would think that if the FEIN was provided instead of a social they would let you know it would be a personal pull on the credit also before they just run it. So, Byrdman are you saying that they did not even need my social to pull the credit, and they can do it by name only? If that's the case is that enough ground for an unauthorized dispute? What do you think.

[Anonymous]

You'll have to reread the application, but is highly likely that this credit card requires a personal guarantee.  As such they would review the credit worthiness of the individual in addition to the business.  As byrdman said, they don't need your SSN to be able to pull your credit.

[Junejer]

Thanks jb, for reiterating my point. Sorry kymmie, name and address is all they really need to pull your reports. IMO, you don't have grounds for an unauthorized pull dispute. CC applications have A LOT of fine print. I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that there is someplace on there that tells you that they need to check you out. Did they also ask for your HHI in that same section, where you placed your name? This is not just for the name that you want on the card, but rather for the PG that they are requiring on you.

[QueenBean]

Probably because even though it is a business line of credit, you agreed to personally guarantee it........kinda like a co-signer

[Achieve2012]

The funny thing is that TU here at my fico is not even counting the hit towards my inq's. Under the portion where is says what is helping your scores, it says not actively seeking credit and it has 0 inquiries in the description, but it does have the inquiry listed under the inquiry tab, and I did not loose any points off my score so far. So maybe I can relax and let it go. Thanks for all the replies, now I will be more aware and make sure to ask if it will be a PG when applying for Biz credit.

[Junejer]

Perhaps they didn't pull your TU. Did they pull one of the others?

[Achieve2012]

They only pulled TU, this was the only alert I recieved for a new inquiry, and when I called Advanta to ask them what CRA's did they use they said TU only. I have ran all my reports with myfico, Truecredit, and individually with EXP and EQU since TU does not allow daily pulls anymore.  TU is the only one that has the inquiry. It does shows up under TU for my fico, but like I mentioned when TU gives the explanation of understanding your score, it has a 0 for the Inquiries. Look I copied and pasted it below so you can see, I don't know if the explanation just has not been updated or what, but my score stayed the same too so I don't know what's up.

TransUnion 732

• Helping your score
• 1. No missed payments
• 2. Not seeking credit

 You're not actively looking for credit.

Your applications for credit in the past year
0 inquiries

About 72% of FICO High Achievers [?] did not apply for credit in the past year. Of those that did, about 20% applied for credit just once.

1. You've helped your FICO score by not actively seeking credit. Each time you apply for credit, a credit inquiry is performed. Your credit report shows no recent credit inquiries, which indicates that you are not currently looking for credit. People who are actively seeking credit pose more of a risk to lenders than those who are not.

Inquiries that may be affecting your FICO® score

Total: 1 Time

Date Company making the inquiry January 10, 2009 Advanta Bank Corp

Inquiries not considered by the FICO® score are not listed here, such as inquiries that result from obtaining your own credit reports and FICO® scores.

Is any information on this report wrong? We'll help you write a Dispute Letter

Your File Identification Number (FIN) is: 110347814. Please include your FIN when contacting TransUnion.