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Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

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Anonymous
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Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

Im wanting to send out letters to try and get some inquiries removed from my report to get in the best position possible to purchase a home in the next 6 to 12 months. When I send the letters I am sending them to the companies that actually did the pulls correct? As in I'm not actually sending them to Equifax, Experian, Trans Union. Also if the same pull shows on multiple different credit reports will I need to send separate letters? Should I include my SSN in the letter? Any other advice I am willing to hear as I have no clue but want to make things easy as possible. I have a report from Idenityforce but I may need to get something else as it seems to not have 100% of the info I need for all the bureaus. Thank you in advance. 

Message 1 of 16
15 REPLIES 15
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions


@Anonymous wrote:

Im wanting to send out letters to try and get some inquiries removed from my report to get in the best position possible to purchase a home in the next 6 to 12 months. When I send the letters I am sending them to the companies that actually did the pulls correct? As in I'm not actually sending them to Equifax, Experian, Trans Union. Also if the same pull shows on multiple different credit reports will I need to send separate letters? Should I include my SSN in the letter? Any other advice I am willing to hear as I have no clue but want to make things easy as possible. I have a report from Idenityforce but I may need to get something else as it seems to not have 100% of the info I need for all the bureaus. Thank you in advance. 


Besides trying to "fix" your credit report why are you requesting this.  If the hard pulls are legitimate they will not remove them.  They will only remove them if you can prove without a doubt that they should not be there.

Message 2 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

Because I actually have some that should not be there and I also want to have as many removed as possible. I just recently had an auto dealer send my credit off to 20 different banks when I told them I had only wanted one done. I really just need to know if I'm supposed to send the letter to the person that pulled it of to say Equifax. If I am sending it to say Equifax would I just send 1 letter with multiple issues? Thank you. 

Message 3 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions


@Anonymous wrote:

Because I actually have some that should not be there and I also want to have as many removed as possible. I just recently had an auto dealer send my credit off to 20 different banks when I told them I had only wanted one done. I really just need to know if I'm supposed to send the letter to the person that pulled it of to say Equifax. If I am sending it to say Equifax would I just send 1 letter with multiple issues? Thank you. 


You can also dispute these claims online.

 

https://www.equifax.com/personal/disputes

Message 4 of 16
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

When a party requests your credit report, they send the request to the CRA for evaluation.

They are required to provide a statement of their permissible purpose, which is one or more of the purposes listed under FCRA 604.

The CRA then determines whether the request provides a legit permissible purpose.

 

If you contest the inquiry, your basis must include a showing that they did not have a legitimate permissible purpose.

That dispute should go to the CRA, which is the evaluating party who has the statement of permissible purpose provided by the inquiree.

 

The CRA will deny the dispute if there is a stated permissible purpose.

They view their filling of an inquiry as a "toothpaste is out of the tube" issue, meaning it cannot be undone once the report is sent, and thus take a stand that it is factually corrrect if a permissible purpose was provided.

It is rare that a CRA will remove an inquiry.

 

An alternative to disputing is to contact the inquiree and request that they recode their inquiry as "soft," meaning it will then be removed from view by others and from scoring.

Message 5 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions


@Anonymous wrote:

I just recently had an auto dealer send my credit off to 20 different banks when I told them I had only wanted one done.


Multiple inquiries received at the same time from auto loan rate-shopping are scored as one inquiry.  It doesn't matter if this number is 1, 20 or 100.  Don't sweat that you are seeing a lot of them.  They aren't hurting your score any more than a single inquiry would be and there is no reason to dispute them or be upset with the dealership. 

Message 6 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

That is what they say, however, that is not entirely true. I purchased a home (3 hard pulls) and a vehicle (4 hard pulls). We are told they count as one if done within a certain timeframe, but when I requested a CL increase I received a denial letter. Reason? Too many inquiries. Therefore, they do count them. They don't take the time to go through your report to determine what is counted as a single inquiry.
Message 7 of 16
Jimp2323
Regular Contributor

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

It's my understanding that they count as a single inquiry for scoring purposes...individual lenders make their own decisions as to what constitutes "too many".

 

Message 8 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions


@Anonymous wrote:
That is what they say, however, that is not entirely true. I purchased a home (3 hard pulls) and a vehicle (4 hard pulls). We are told they count as one if done within a certain timeframe, but when I requested a CL increase I received a denial letter. Reason? Too many inquiries. Therefore, they do count them. They don't take the time to go through your report to determine what is counted as a single inquiry.

This is incorrect.

 

Depending on the credit profile in question, two inquiries could be "too many."

 

As for the OP, challenging legitimate inquiries is a good way to get your reports locked down with fraud alerts and/or accounts closed.

Message 9 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Hard Inquiry Removal Questions

Grouped inquiries for the same purpose from different creditors does not impact your score as dramatically. The CRAs changed their matrix for scoring as part of the NCAP back in 2016. The argument that you were being penalized while shopping for the best finance terms won out over creditors arguing that shopping around only allowed the consumer to open numerous accounts in a short period of time. 

 

It is tremendously difficult to remove a legitimate inquiry and if you are just trying to see about getting a few removed on the off chance that if may improve your score you need to be aware that you are actually insinuating that someone attempted to perpetrate fraud using your information and most creditors do not respond well to those allegations.

 

You need to be absolutely, 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt about the fraudelent inquiry because on occasion you will be asked if you'd like to file a fraud report and then you'll look foolish if you don't have valid proof as to why you disputed the inquiry. 

Message 10 of 16
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