Credit inquiries are disputable, but only under the CRA dispute process, which permits a consumer to dispute the accuracy of any information of record in their credit file. The direct dispute process applies only to furnishers of information, not inquiries for furnished information, and thus specifically exempts disputes related to inquniries.
The issue of coding of disputes as hard or soft is not per se disputable, as the FCRA does not regulate the coding of inquiries.
The issue under the FCRA is whether or not the inquiree had permissible purpose under one or more provisions of section 604.
Thus, to dispute the accuracy of an inquiry, one must challenge whether or not the inquiree had a permissible purpose. Unless one has the specific code used to identity the asserted permissible purpose provided by the inquiree, it is a bit difficult to challenge its accuracy.
The CRAs will usually rely, unless provided evidence of clear lack of permissible purpose, on the statement provided to them, and can thus verify without contacting the inquiree. The FCRA requirement to forward a copy of a dispute to the furnisher of information does not apply, as a credit inquiry is not the reporting of information to a consumer's file, it is just the opposite. Thus, the exemption of inquiries from the direct dispute process.
