Unauthorized Inquiry

[Anonymous]

I just pulled my "score" on CreditKarma (was just checking to see if my credit card balances had been updated on Transunion yet) and was surprised to see that my score had gone down a few points - the reason given was that I had an additional inquiry on my report. I know I haven't applied for anything recently, so I pulled a copy of my TR report to see if a new inquiry had really jumped on. Turns out the bank that holds my mortgage (a local bank here in Seattle) did a hard pull of my report on 9/3. Do they have the right to do that, and if not how can I get rid of it? I'm also kind of freaked out, because why would they do that? It's not like it's a credit card, or even a HELOC that could be reduced. It's a mortgage, the only loan I have on my property. I have never paid it late ever. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but there's nothing they can do - like take away my mortgage, right??

[JoeBJay20]

It all depends on your contract.  But if your loan is already approved, there's really no reason for them to be doing a hard pull.  You can contact the bank and request that they remove the hard pull or have it recoded as a soft inquiry.  But you can relax, as long as you're paying on time, they can't take away your mortgage.  It's still a legally binding contract, as long as you're meeting your end of the bargain there is no reason to be alarmed.

[Anonymous]

Thanks JoeBJay - logically I knew that, but it's reassuring to hear it from someone else as well. It just doesn't seem logical that a bank would do account reviews on a MORTGAGE - it always seemed strange seeing those soft inquiries (like I get from AMEX and other companies that I have CREDIT LINES with) from my mortgage company, and now getting hit with this hard inquiry I got kind of scared. I'll definitely call them and see about getting it recoded to a soft inquiry, and maybe they can explain why they keep checking my credit even though they extended me a mortgage more than 2 years ago!

[JoeBJay20]

You're welcome, in the current economic climate, we're all a little skittish.  Things that we would have shaken off years ago now traumatize use. 

[chasmith]

If the bank either hasn't sold your mortgage, or sold it and kept servicing rights, but is now being audited for underwriting (if whatever pool they packaged it into has gone sour and they're being pushed to buy the loans back), they may want your current credit status for their purposes - a good reason they shouldn't do a hard pull when they have the permissable purpose of account management to do a soft pull.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks JoeBJay - logically I knew that, but it's reassuring to hear it from someone else as well. It just doesn't seem logical that a bank would do account reviews on a MORTGAGE - it always seemed strange seeing those soft inquiries (like I get from AMEX and other companies that I have CREDIT LINES with) from my mortgage company, and now getting hit with this hard inquiry I got kind of scared. I'll definitely call them and see about getting it recoded to a soft inquiry, and maybe they can explain why they keep checking my credit even though they extended me a mortgage more than 2 years ago!

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There are quite a few good reasons why a mortgage holder would do account reviews, but generally they are soft pulls.  I've never had a hard pull for an AR.  I'd bet the person who pulled the credit report messed up and didn't code it as an AR.

[Anonymous]

JoeB that is NO JOKE! Its funny how the older we get the more worried we get about the smallest things. Even in this instance an inquiry! IMO I think that ANY time your file is pulled you should me notified before hand to contest it giving you some real control as far as what gets put on your CR.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the extra insight Chas. O6 - what are some of the reasons they'd do a an AR?

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the extra insight Chas. O6 - what are some of the reasons they'd do a an AR?

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I'm not speaking for O6 but IMO creditors do AR's to see if you are possibly getting yourself in trouble financially. If they see your utilization had gone up drastically or you have applied for alot of new credit that could make them nervous and trigger a possible AA (Adverse Action) against you.

I might be totally wrong about that but I'm sticking to my story. 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802
EQ - 7/06-663, 3/10-800
TU - 8/10-772
You can do the same thing with hard work

[Anonymous]

Marine - thanks for the response, and I understand that with credit cards or HELOC's, but with a mortgage they CAN'T take AA against me based on my credit report. They could only ever do anything if I was late or missing payments. That's why I was concerned and double checking with the boards for reassurance Now I'm just curious why a mortgage company would do an AR. I mean, it might tell them if I'm a higher risk of missing payments - maybe some kind of risk management on their end?