Inquiry not being reported...I guess?

[Anonymous]

I recently requested a CLI on my Sears (Citi) card. It was declined and they sent me a letter saying the reasons (utilization on other revolving account, too many consumer finance accounts....) They said the info was based on my Equifax report. It has been about 2 weeks and I have not recieved a Fico alert....Can they decline it and see my utilizations and other accounts without doing a hard pull. Shouldnt I have recieved an alert by now that I have a new inquiry reporting???

[smallfry]

You're lucky they pulled soft.

[Anonymous]

Can they see all of the info about my previous closed accounts and how maxed out my other cards are when pulling soft?

[marty56]

They would see all that and any new account as well.  IMHO there is no information difference between a soft pull and a hard pull, credit wise, other than the effect on your FICO score.

[Jazzzy]

It does appear they did a soft pull on you. And yes...they will see it all.

We have had our Sears Citi card forever. It's our lowest cc limit ($3k). When I started to pay attention to my FICOs, I called and asked for an increase. It was over the phone and I was declined. The reason she gave me is that my "last request" was too recent. They followed up with a letter, and that's what the letter told me, too. Well, I had never asked them for an increase before, so I have no idea what she meant. I also never got a hard inquiry. I think they must soft me periodically or something.

BTW, don't spend a lot of time trying to get an increase from them. We've got pretty decent scores and <1% utilization. I'm not sure what it takes to get an increase, but we weren't good enough. We keep the card only because it's one of our oldest. We charge our Netflix on it each month and forget about it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. i would not have bothered if I had known how hard it was to get an increase. I found out what happened though. The letter they sent said it was based on info from my Equifax report....but when I pulled my TU, there was the inquiry.....

[Jazzzy]

Hey...if you got turned down because of what's on your credit report, then you have the right to a free report. That's the least you can get from the denial.

There will be instructions on there as to how to get your free report. Maybe you already know what's on your report, but I always get the free one anyway. Makes me feel better.