Unauthorized Hard Inquiry

[Anonymous]

Hello all!

Here's my attempt to consolidate all of this nonsense I've been going through. I noticed a hard inquiry on my transunion and equifax credit reports from payday loan type place. Knowing that I hadn't applied for a loan or credit from this place or anyplace that does business with them(apparently the handle people's request for financing through furniture places as well), I was quite confused. I called one of the local stores since they are based in Mississippi,I'm in Louisiana, and they do buisiness regionally. They confirmed that I didn't have an account with them or saw any reason why they'd be pulling my credit. They verified with higher ups the only reason for anything that would be associated should possibly be a promotional inquiry. I verified with the CRA's that it was an indeed a hard inquiry. After reviewing my report, the information provided was with a different last name and from the address I grew up at(I'm in my 30's and haven't live there in 10+ years). So of course I'm thinking that now this is possibly an indentity theft issue. I then contact the company and ask for more information and in hopes to have them take it off. They respond with no record of pulling my credit and that they do promotional inquiries from time to time but there should not be a hard inquiry from them. At this point, I file disputes with Equifax,Transunion, and the CFPB on the company and CRA's. The CA responded to my CFPB complaint with the same thing they sent to me personally when I questioned. Transunion agreed to remove it, but Equifax gave their usual song and dance of hard inquiries represent factual data from a CA and to contact them directly. I have filed a complaint with states Attorney Generals office as well but I haven't heard back. I'm kind of at a loss at this point. There has been no indication of indentity theft but since I'm not planning on needing credit anytime soon, I placed an alert on my account. I don't know what permissible purpose they could claim for the hard inquiry being placed since I don't do buisiness with them or have applied for any type of credit. I guess it could be a coding error on their end but what are my recourse options for that? Should I send the permissible purpose letter that's been posted here many times? Sadly, there are no Consumer Protection lawyers in my area so I haven't really found somebody to sit down with and talk with if bringing suit would be something I decide to do. I know some people in the past have mentioned small claims court but with them being based out of state,even doing buisness physically in my state, I don't know if my local court would have jurisdiction. On top of that, I could only get money if I won and not removal through small claims. Any help,suggestions,or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[RobertEG]

Apart from obtaining a full review by the courts, you may possibly get assistance from your complaints filed with eithr the CFPB or the state AG.

I would wait for their reply.

As an aside, by the time you finally obtain a resolution, the whole issue is likely to have become moot from a scoring perspective, as inquiries cease to be included in scoring after one year.

However it is very aggravating that the CRAs wont address clear issues of improper inquiries. I applaud your perserverence.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. It's a double edge sword. The impact is minimal to my score but their unwillingness to help me when the company knows their is an error and makes me not want to let it go. I know for a fact that neither the Creditor or CRA can produce any documentation of authorization or any seblance of proof that I have tried to utilize their services. To add, the CFPB was not helpful in the least and I attempted the FTC but they directed me to the CFPB. I have never sued and never had any intention to. I don't want any money from this company. I want this erroneous information deleted and an explanation as to how this happen. These companies rely on you jsut letting it go and it's not right. I never mentioned but the name of the company is Tower Loan. I researched them after I saw the inquiry and they have a host of negative feedback associated with them. I really appreciate your response, Robert.

[AndySoCal]

What is the name of the crrditor  with tnquiry in question?

[Anonymous]

Tower loan

[Anonymous]

I am not an attorney, so I cannot say this for certain, but a key element in a lawsuit (as I understand it) is the plaintiff establishing that he has been damaged in some way. 

An example of this would be showing that the inquiry prevented you from getting a mortgage, or that it caused you to get a higher interest rate on it.  It sounds, however, like you have had no plans to obtain credit since the inquiry appeared nor any such plans for the next year.

Suing because something just isn't right (with no indication of any way you have been hurt) is, as I understandand it, not sufficient grounds.

And as you seem to realize, in a fairly short while the inquiry will have zero effect on your score, in which case there will be zero chance it could harm you.

This article may help make sense out of it.  The guy is in a similar situation, but you'll note the language: "He finally got to an attorney who said that if he could prove he'd been damaged in some way, he had a case."

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/can-you-sue-for-damaged-credit-1282.php

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the article.