Unauthorized Hard Inquiry

[Cherriwyn]

Today I received an alert from my credit monitoring company stating a hard inquiry was placed on my credit from Weltman, Weinberg & Reis.  This inquiry was not authoirzed by me and it caused my score to drop 10 points.  I was looking for suggestions as to how I should proceed.

Thanks in advance.

[StartingOver10]

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@Cherriwyn wrote:

Today I received an alert from my credit monitoring company stating a hard inquiry was placed on my credit from Weltman, Weinberg & Reis.  This inquiry was not authoirzed by me and it caused my score to drop 10 points.  I was looking for suggestions as to how I should proceed.

Thanks in advance.

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They are a CA so they most likely have pp from the OC.

DV them if you have their dunning letter then you know who the OC is and it puts a stop to collection until they respond to your DV letter.

[Cherriwyn]

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StartingOver10 wrote:
They are a CA so they most likely have pp from the OC.

DV them if you have their dunning letter then you know who the OC is and it puts a stop to collection until they respond to your DV letter.

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Thanks for your response.  I have not received a dunning letter or anything from them only the alert I received today on my credit report.   I did file a dispute with the credit agency.

[RobertEG]

The entire construct of the FCRA, by including section 804, is to define types of inquries that do not require specific authorization from the consumer.

Authorization is based on permissible purpose.  If they have legitimate debt collection authority, they have permissible purpose.

You could assert that pulling your credit report is an act that triggered requirement for dunning notice within 5 days, but I am aware only of reporting information to a consumer's file as being case law basis for dunning notice.  Pulling your credit is not furnishing information to a CRA.

Since you have their name, you could send them a DV.  You dont have to wait for dunning notice to require debt validation.

That will at least place a collection bar on them until they provide verification.

[tmobileguy]

FCRA states that you must have PP to pull a credit report, that is true. But it is also specific in its language about inquiries that are visible to "only you" vs visible to "everyone"...and it states that an iquiry that is visible to everyone MUST be initiated by the consumer. PP is not a defense in a hard inquiry situation since you must have PP AND have it initiated BY THE CONSUMER

[RobertEG]

The referenced sections of the FCRA state that the business transaction or application for credit or insurance must have been initiated by the consumer, not the request for your credit report.

The consumer is not a party to permissible requests for their credit report, and inquirees dont need  consumer authorization if they have a permissible purpose.

Otherwise, business handling of their transactions and extension of credit would come to a standstill.

[tmobileguy]

no consumers initiate any kind of application for credit from a CA (typically). Which means they might have a PP to pull a soft inquiry, but the CA still falls short of the ability to make a hard inquiry because they have recieved no initial application for credit or insurance from the consumer. 

[RobertEG]

Inquires are not limited to requests for credit.

They are permitted for business transactions where no actual credit is being advanced, provided the business has a legitimate need for the information, for applications for insurance, for employment purposes, for governmental licensing, by potential investors to assess payment risks on an existing credit obligation, review of or collection on an account, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yep, It sucks that they can do this! I had a lawfirm pull a hard inquiry before they sent me a demand for payment letter and every week until I replied to it! Jerks.