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Privacy

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Anonymous
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Privacy

I gave my dad some of my general credit history so he could go to the bank's mortgage lender and ask a few questions if they would "forgive" some things on my report if I would provide proof that accounts weren't mine, paid in full on time (when shows a balance +lates on report) or past the SOL. Before you say anything, I'm already working on getting these items off my report, but as you know this takes time and we were trying to buy a house ASAP with a baby on the way. Anyway, this lender then does a hard pull on my credit report (without my permission) and proceeds to tell my father what my credit score is, and about other accounts that are showing up on my report. This sounds illegal to me but I can't seem to find exactly what law he's breaking by doing this... can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to handle this, with this lender?

Message 1 of 3
2 REPLIES 2
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Privacy

They shouldn't have done that. I'd write the bank and ask them to remove the inquiries.

Message 2 of 3
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Privacy

Though I agree that under most circumstances the bank shouldn't pull your credit in that manner and share information with your father, it also appears that you authorized your father to act as your agent.  You provided him with your information about your credit history and allowed him to make inquiries with a lender on your behalf.  Given the situation, I don't think the loan officer thought that he/she was doing anything wrong when your father approached asking questions about your mortgage chances.  In general, loan officers can't speak in hypothetical terms about mortgage approval chances, and if your father were requesting answers for specific questions, the LO may have felt that there was no way to provide meaningful answers without seeing a recent copy of the credit report.

 

If it is the hard inquiry that concerns you the most, then approaching the LO in person to request removal of the inquiry would be appropriate.  That's how I was able to get two inquiries removed a few years ago.  I had approached a lender with general questions about refinancing, and the next thing I knew I had two inquiries on my report.  I hadn't explicitly authorized the pulls, but I had requested "general information" about refinancing options.  I realize now that I couldn't be provided with any useful information without their knowing a little more about my credit profile.  But in any case, I wrote a polite letter requesting that these inquiries be removed, and the lender (a large national bank) actually took care of this pretty quickly.

 

If you are concerned about the invasion of privacy and are considering seeking remedy for this, I think you'd have a weak case, for the reasons mentioned above.

Message 3 of 3
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