@JBjunior wrote:
What they did was illegal. I have been through this recently with both my own research into the FCRA and a lawyer after some illegal inquiries were done for my report. While the FCRA doesn't use the terminology of "soft" and "hard" the system that CRAs use is based on the terminology they do use. Companies are allowed to do soft inquiries (it is done all the time) but a hard inquiry has to be initiated by the consumer in pursuit of credit. You could pursue a monetary claim but in my opinion it isn't worth it although some people have been successful. I was happy when the company began cooperating with me and took action to remove it. Ultimately it is a violation of your privacy. Also, while companies you have an existing relationship can pull your credit at their whim, based on language in the FCRA it should be a soft (not called that).
I find nothing in the FCRA that states a hard INQ cannot result from an existing creditor or that a hard INQ must be by a consumer in pursuit of credit.
FCRA § 604(c)(3) Information regarding inquiries. Except as provided in section 609(a)(5) [§1681g], a consumer reporting agency shall not furnish to any person a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by a consumer.
This is the only reference to a distinction between INQ types that I find in that those INQs seen only by the consumer are what we consider soft and INQs seen by those with permissible purpose to pull your CR are what we call hard. Still, the distinctions are blurry. Insurance INQs are what we would call soft, yet other insurance companies can view them.
The question is what does it mean by a transaction initiated by the consumer. Also, what about non-credit and non-insurance INQs? CAs can place hard INQs since they are collecting on an account that the consumer opened. INQs from government agencies that do not involve credit transations can often be hard INQs. Car dealers can often place a hard INQ even though you pay cash.
