Possible unauthorized Inquiry

[astrobuckeye]

I recently got a security system installed.  The company that did the installation ran a credit check and so did the monitoring center.  So now I have two inquiries.  I don't think those are permissible.  Am I correct?  I wasn't asking for credit, I actually paid for the installation ahead of time.  So would I be justified in sending a Unauthorized Inquiry Letter?

[fused]

Did you sign anything? Check the paper work you have, if any, to see if either of these two companies had a "permissible purpose" to check your credit.

[Anonymous]

Did they do a hard pull or soft pull?

[Anonymous]

---

@fused wrote:
Did you sign anything? Check the paper work you have, if any, to see if either of these two companies had a "permissible purpose" to check your credit.

---

True.  He would have had to sign a document giving them explicit permission to check his credit.  Unfortunately these terms are often hidden deep inside every standard contract.

Message Edited by O6 on 03-02-2010 07:41 PM

[Anonymous]

I agree, but if the OP let's us know wether hard or soft pull then we can pretty much narrow it down to what you said in your last post..

Message Edited by JustinCase on 03-03-2010 12:41 AM

[Anonymous]

As others have said, check the paperwork. They have to explicitly tell you of the credit check.

Did you give them your SSN? I ask because I've read of alarm companies running a credit check WITHOUT being given an SSN.

[RobertEG]

I would not be so quick to conclude that separate, prior witten authority must be granted.

FCRA 604(a)(3)(A) grants a permissable pull to a person who "intends to use the information in connection with a credot transaction involving the consumer."  Even though installation fees were paid up front, did you still have a continuing monitoring agreement with them that specifies monthly/quarterly terms of payment?

FCRA 604(a)(3)(F)(i) does not even require that it be a credit transaction, just a "business transaction," that was "initiated by the consumer."

[Anonymous]

FCRA 604(a)(3)(F)(i) does not even require that it be a credit transaction, just a "business transaction," that was "initiated by the consumer."

Ok, kinda confused now, What constitues a hard pull v. soft pull?  So "business transaction" would not constitute them doing a hard pull because the consumer did not apply for any type of "credit transaction".  My reason for asking for insight is because this would determine weather the type of inquirey would affecrt your score.

[RobertEG]

The FCRA never even mentions the terms "hard" or "soft" pull.  This distinction depends on how the inquiry is coded.

What is commonly referred to as a "soft pull" is couched in FCRA language under FCRA 604(c)(2) as to how much information the CRA may provide.

The classic statutory "soft pull" limits the person to only your name and address when it involves an offer for credit that is not intiatiated by the consumer.  The so-called unsolicited offers that flood your mailbox.

Other than that, it gets a bit murky.  Existing creditors can pull your full CR at any time, under FCRA 604(a)(3)(F)(ii),  to conduct an account review. Normal business practives of creditors is to uniformly report these with a code identifying it as such, and FICO thus ignores it in scoring as a so-called "soft pull."

A murkier situation might be, for example, a request you make for a credit line increase (CLI). This is clearly a request for additional credit intiated by the consumer, and thus full access to your CR is authorized under FCRA 604(a)(3)(A).  Some creditors will code this in such a way that it is picked up by FICO scoring ("hard pull"), and others report it with code that FICO does not include in scoring ("soft pull").

If you apply for a new apartment, that is a "business transaction intiated by the consumer," and provides access to your full CR under FCRA 604(a)(3)(F)(i),  Some will report it with a code that FICO recognizes as a "soft" pull, which others code it such that FICO recognizes it as a "hard" pull.

It is advisable that if you are entering into any type of business transaction, you ask the creditor or postential creditor for advance statement of how they code the transaction when pulling your credit.  For the most part, it is not regulated by the FCRA,

[Anonymous]

Wow, great info thanks!!!