Permissible Purpose - Please clarify if possible

[Anonymous]

is there a steadfast "rule" as to when a creditor can pull your report (hard inquiry)?  Here is my issue. Have a LOC with HFC.  My pay dates changed so therefore I have been making my payments about 10 days late.  I started getting notifications via True Credit stating new inquiries. I hadn't applied for any new credit, so I was amazed when I see the inquiries from HFC and I have not asked them for any additional credit or to increase the line of credit on my LOC. Fast forward to today: I have inquiries on EX/EQ every month since Dec 2009 and 1 on TU.

When I look up the FCRA definition for permissible purpose, it lists the following as 2 of the 8 permissible purposes:

• For an account review. Your existing lenders are legally allowed to periodically pull your credit reports for account review purposes.
• In an attempt to collect a debt. If you default on a loan or owe an unpaid debt, lenders and/or debt collection companies have the right to pull your credit reports for the purpose of collecting a debt.

 SOOOO am I in error for assuming (and we know what happens when one assumes) that companies do a soft pull for credit review? Any feedback or direction will be helpful. They are killing my report with these inquiries.

[GordonShumway]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

is there a steadfast "rule" as to when a creditor can pull your report (hard inquiry)?  Here is my issue. Have a LOC with HFC.  My pay dates changed so therefore I have been making my payments about 10 days late.  I started getting notifications via True Credit stating new inquiries. I hadn't applied for any new credit, so I was amazed when I see the inquiries from HFC and I have not asked them for any additional credit or to increase the line of credit on my LOC. Fast forward to today: I have inquiries on EX/EQ every month since Dec 2009 and 1 on TU.

When I look up the FCRA definition for permissible purpose, it lists the following as 1 of the 8 permissible purposes:

For an account review. Your existing lenders are legally allowed to periodically pull your credit reports for account review purposes.

SOOOO am I in error for assuming (and we know what happens when one assumes) that companies do a soft pull for credit review? Any feedback or direction will be helpful. They are killing my report with these inquiries.

---

I would contact the lender and ask them to recode it as soft, because it falls uder account review

[Anonymous]

---

@GordonShumway wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

is there a steadfast "rule" as to when a creditor can pull your report (hard inquiry)?  Here is my issue. Have a LOC with HFC.  My pay dates changed so therefore I have been making my payments about 10 days late.  I started getting notifications via True Credit stating new inquiries. I hadn't applied for any new credit, so I was amazed when I see the inquiries from HFC and I have not asked them for any additional credit or to increase the line of credit on my LOC. Fast forward to today: I have inquiries on EX/EQ every month since Dec 2009 and 1 on TU.

When I look up the FCRA definition for permissible purpose, it lists the following as 1 of the 8 permissible purposes:

For an account review. Your existing lenders are legally allowed to periodically pull your credit reports for account review purposes.

SOOOO am I in error for assuming (and we know what happens when one assumes) that companies do a soft pull for credit review? Any feedback or direction will be helpful. They are killing my report with these inquiries.

---

I would contact the lender and ask them to recode it as soft, because it falls uder account review

---

I did ... they continue to act as though they have no clue what  I am referring to. I just want to make sure I am barking up the right tree. I assumed account review was a soft inquiry. I dont know if they have to code as soft or what the stipulations are.

[GordonShumway]

You can always try and run this by the CRA:

The CRAs differentiate between “hard” and “soft” inquiries. Hard inquiries are ones initiated by consumers. Soft inquiries are inquiries not initiated by consumers and as shown below 1681c(3) clearly states that even if a CA had a permissible purpose, it should have been a soft inquiry and not a hard inquiry. 15 U.S.C. § 1681©(3) states:

Information regarding inquiries. Except as provided in section 609(a)(5) [15 U.S.C. § 1681g], a consumer reporting agency shall not furnish to any person a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction that
is not initiated by a consumer. [Emphasis Added]

[Anonymous]

---

@GordonShumway wrote:

You can always try and run this by the CRA:

The CRAs differentiate between “hard” and “soft” inquiries. Hard inquiries are ones initiated by consumers. Soft inquiries are inquiries not initiated by consumers and as shown below 1681c(3) clearly states that even if a CA had a permissible purpose, it should have been a soft inquiry and not a hard inquiry. 15 U.S.C. § 1681©(3) states:

Information regarding inquiries. Except as provided in section 609(a)(5) [15 U.S.C. § 1681g], a consumer reporting agency shall not furnish to any person a record of inquiries in connection with a credit or insurance transaction that is not initiated by a consumer. [Emphasis Added]

---

It isn't so simple. 

The initial credit transaction which resulted in the LOC being established was most certainly initiated by the consumer.