Inquiry from Cash Central that I did not initiate

[StartingOver10]

---

@happypill wrote:

---

@Shogun wrote:

OK... let's just boil it down.  No,,, in no way did they have any right to pull your CR if you have no business relationship or are not seeking a business relationship with them.  Do a direct dispute with them and request specifically who this "Lead" was.  If they do not respond, take them to small claims court.

---

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking.  My sense is that they won't be cooperative, but I'll update as I find out more.  Thanks for your replies.

---

Agree with Shogun.  FYI a lead provider is a website that collects personal information from you and sells the info to various lenders. One of the big lead providers is Lending Tree - they don't do their own loans, they only collect the info and sell to lenders for various types of loans. 

[happypill]

After getting advice from the members here, I contested the inquiry by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has a .gov address.  They registered the claim and said they contacted Cash Central for their response.

Surprisingly (well, maybe not that surprising) Cash Central responded very quickly within about a day.  Their response to the CFPB regurgitated their message to me, but that they agreed to remove the inquiry.  Initially, I was expecting them to drag their feet and was suprised that the responded quickly, but after thinking about it a bit, I wasn't surprised.  It seems that it is actually their business model to ignore the law take advantage of people who don't monitor their credit reports.  The last thing the probably want is to waste time dealing with a pissed off customer who is willing to fight.

Anyhow, they folded immediately but I still think someone should be looking into their business practices.  After the inquiry comes off my report I might press a little harder.

[Anonymous]

---

@happypill wrote:

After getting advice from the members here, I contested the inquiry by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has a .gov address.  They registered the claim and said they contacted Cash Central for their response.

Surprisingly (well, maybe not that surprising) Cash Central responded very quickly within about a day.  Their response to the CFPB regurgitated their message to me, but that they agreed to remove the inquiry.  Initially, I was expecting them to drag their feet and was suprised that the responded quickly, but after thinking about it a bit, I wasn't surprised.  It seems that it is actually their business model to ignore the law take advantage of people who don't monitor their credit reports.  The last thing the probably want is to waste time dealing with a pissed off customer who is willing to fight.

Anyhow, they folded immediately but I still think someone should be looking into their business practices.  After the inquiry comes off my report I might press a little harder.

---

I was looking at my reports this morning and noticed that on Experian I have an inquiry from Cash Central which I never authorized, nor even know who they are. How did you file the complaint, Phone, mail, online?

[happypill]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@happypill wrote:

After getting advice from the members here, I contested the inquiry by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has a .gov address.  They registered the claim and said they contacted Cash Central for their response.

Surprisingly (well, maybe not that surprising) Cash Central responded very quickly within about a day.  Their response to the CFPB regurgitated their message to me, but that they agreed to remove the inquiry.  Initially, I was expecting them to drag their feet and was suprised that the responded quickly, but after thinking about it a bit, I wasn't surprised.  It seems that it is actually their business model to ignore the law take advantage of people who don't monitor their credit reports.  The last thing the probably want is to waste time dealing with a pissed off customer who is willing to fight.

Anyhow, they folded immediately but I still think someone should be looking into their business practices.  After the inquiry comes off my report I might press a little harder.

---

I was looking at my reports this morning and noticed that on Experian I have an inquiry from Cash Central which I never authorized, nor even know who they are. How did you file the complaint, Phone, mail, online?

---

I submitted my complaint online with CFPB.  Before doing that I did try calling Cash Central at the number listed on my credit report but I don't recommend doing that unless you want to talk to some CSR that has no idea what is going on and will just read to you off a script.  I suggest being somehwat harsh and aggressive the language of your complaint (I was very mad, so that was easy!) as I think they know they are doign something wrong and don't want angry people bringing it to light.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

---

---

I submitted my complaint online with CFPB.  Before doing that I did try calling Cash Central at the number listed on my credit report but I don't recommend doing that unless you want to talk to some CSR that has no idea what is going on and will just read to you off a script.  I suggest being somehwat harsh and aggressive the language of your complaint (I was very mad, so that was easy!) as I think they know they are doign something wrong and don't want angry people bringing it to light.

Good luck.

---

Thanks. It shows on my report as being from March of 2015. Sionce inquiries loose impact over that much time, I may not mess with it. But, considering yours was so easy to get knocked off, I may just go ahead and do it.

[RobertEG]

While your primary concern may be the presence of a credit inquiry and its score effect, the fact is that they pulled your credit report, be it soft or hard, and gained access to your personal credit information.  That alone is worth shutting these clowns down.

Some clarifying points.

First, having what they consider a "legitimate business need for the information" is a misquote of the permissible purpose under FCRA 604(a)(3)(F)(i).

The "legitimate business need" grant of permissible purpose is limited only to a business transaction that is initiated by the consumer which has an associated need for review of your credit.

Under FCRA 604(c), a party may request a credit report in connection with a credit transaction that was not initiated by the consumer only if the consumer has provided them specific authoriization or it is for the purpose of making an unsolicited offer for credit, and then they may not obtain a report that includes any account specific information.  Those are the promotional type inquiries for which the consumer may opt-out.

If you are considering legal action, be aware of:

FCRA 619. Obtaining information under false pretenses [15 U.S.C. § 1681q]

• Any person who knowingly and willfully obtains information on a consumer from a consumer reporting agency under false pretenses shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.

• 607.  Compliance procedures [15 U.S.C. § 1681e]
• Identity and purposes of credit users. Every consumer reporting agency shall maintain reasonable procedures designed to avoid violations of sec-tion 605 [§ 1681c] and to limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the purposes listed under section 604 [§ 1681b] of this title. These procedures shall require that prospective users of the information identify themselves, certify the purposes for which the information is sought, and certify that the information will be used for no other purpose. Every consumer reporting agency shall make a reasonable effort to verify the identity of a new prospective user and the uses certified by such prospective user prior to furnishing such user a consumer report. No consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report to any person if it has reasonable grounds for believing that the consumer report will not be used for a purpose listed in section 604 [§ 1681b] of this title.

607(e)        Procurement of Consumer Report for Resale

• (1) Disclosure. A person may not procure a consumer report for pur-poses of reselling the report (or any information in the report) unless the person discloses to the consumer reporting agency that originally furnishes the report

(A)        the identity of the end-user of the report (or information); and

(B)        each permissible purpose under section 604 [§ 1681b] for which the report is furnished to the end-user of the report (or informa-tion).

• (2) Responsibilities of procurers for resale. A person who procures a consumer report for purposes of reselling the report (or any informa-tion in the report) shall

• (A) establish and comply with reasonable procedures designed to ensure that the report (or information) is resold by the person only for a purpose for which the report may be furnished under section 604 [§ 1681b], including by requiring that each person to which the report (or information) is resold and that resells or provides the report (or information) to any other person
• (i) identifies each end user of the resold report (or informa-tion);
• (ii) certifies each purpose for which the report (or informa-tion) will be used; and
• (iii) certifies that the report (or information) will be used for no other purpose; a

[Anonymous]

Good point Robert. I just filed a complaint a few minutes ago. This apparently is a Payday loan company. Not much closer to blood sucking vampires than those.

[happypill]

Good luck with your complaint AP1964, and thanks Robert for that detailed explanation.  That was my feeling exactly, that we need to hold this company accountable.  They can get away with a lot of we just let them lurk in the shadows.  We need to bring these activites to light.

[StartingOver10]

---

@happypill wrote:

Good luck with your complaint AP1964, and thanks Robert for that detailed explanation.  That was my feeling exactly, that we need to hold this company accountable.  They can get away with a lot of we just let them lurk in the shadows.  We need to bring these activites to light.

---

^^^+100.  Like a toddler, companies will push the boundaries with us consumers until we say "No".  The CFPB has the resources to put a stop to these types of shenanigans, but only if we report it. 

[Anonymous]

---

@happypill wrote:

After getting advice from the members here, I contested the inquiry by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has a .gov address.  They registered the claim and said they contacted Cash Central for their response.

Surprisingly (well, maybe not that surprising) Cash Central responded very quickly within about a day.  Their response to the CFPB regurgitated their message to me, but that they agreed to remove the inquiry.  Initially, I was expecting them to drag their feet and was suprised that the responded quickly, but after thinking about it a bit, I wasn't surprised.  It seems that it is actually their business model to ignore the law take advantage of people who don't monitor their credit reports.  The last thing the probably want is to waste time dealing with a pissed off customer who is willing to fight.

Anyhow, they folded immediately but I still think someone should be looking into their business practices.  After the inquiry comes off my report I might press a little harder.

---

I just got an email from CFPB asking me to call in. I did so and they stated they needed to know if I wanted to process the complaint as a credit reporting issue or a debt collection issue. She stated if I chose a credit reporting issue they send the complaint to Experian to verify. If I chose a debt collection issue, they deal straight with Cash Central. Well, it's obviously not a debt collection issue but your comments sound like it went straight to Cash Central on yours. How excatly did you choose for CFPB to handle your complaint?