How is a SP possible from an auto dealer?

[CreditCuriosity]

So was looking at my SP's on my EQ report today and noticed a SP from a mercedes benz dealership on my EQ credit report it says the dealership name and all.. The weird thing is I took it into the dealership that day of the SP on my credit to have some insurance work done on it and got a loaner card from them.. All I provided them was a DL and a CC (assume cc was for loaner MB car).  My DL doesn't have my SSN.  Anyone have an idea how they got a SP off on my EQ report at least although could be on others without my SSN and what was the purpose of SP'ing my credit for just a bit of insurance (meaning insurance is taking care of it other than deductible).  Thoughts?

Not really the best place for this post, nor the worse place just curious how they got a SP off without my SSN as my MB is financed through PenFed....

[Sandman771]

If you purchased the vehicle there then there are ways. I work in a dealership and we have a service that mines equity and works with EX. They pre-qualify people with a soft pull and also show us the APR and the sales price and # of paayments left. That dealership could be using something very similar. 

[Anonymous]

A company doesn't need your SSN to pull your credit, whether the pull is hard or soft.  They need your first name and last name and some other info.  Your DL had your current street address, city, state, zip, and birthdate -- more than enough info to enable them to do a credit pull.

I remember being surprised when I learned it was possible for creditors to pull without your SSN, but it is.

PS.  A common complaint here on these forums is a person who was on the phone with AT&T or Direct TV or Sprint or Comcast (etc.) -- just discussing options and price comparison.  The person never disclosed his SSN and was surprised later to see a hard pull on his credit reports.

[CreditCuriosity]

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@Sandman771 wrote:

If you purchased the vehicle there then there are ways. I work in a dealership and we have a service that mines equity and works with EX. They pre-qualify people with a soft pull and also show us the APR and the sales price and # of paayments left. That dealership could be using something very similar. 

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Nah bought it from another MB dealership but figured it was to try to get me into a new car although my current AMG benz is only approx 9 months old shrug.

[CreditCuriosity]

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@Anonymous wrote:

A company doesn't need your SSN to pull your credit, whether the pull is hard or soft.  They need your first name and last name and some other info.  Your DL had your current street address, city, state, zip, and birthdate -- more than enough info to enable them to do a credit pull.

I remember being surprised when I learned it was possible for creditors to pull without your SSN, but it is.

PS.  A common complaint here on these forums is a person who was on the phone with AT&T or Direct TV or Sprint or Comcast (etc.) -- just discussing options and price comparison.  The person never disclosed his SSN and was surprised later to see a hard pull on his credit reports.

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Strange just wonder how they can do that without your SSN as I didn't give them permission granted it was a SP, but they aren't a current creditor either.  Wonder what they were able to see with this pull as it wasn't counted as an AR, but something like ND which I can't remember what it stands for off hand.  Ya I would be going balastic on Comcast especially if they didn't disclose they would be pulling credit or whatever and just did it although knowing att or comcast or whatever if you are applying for new service i suspect a HP.. 

This is just strange as I was just taking my car in for some maintenance and they did a SP for what reason.. I suspect it was for their dealership side on eventually getting me into a new car although I certainly never asked them to do this.  Was just curious on the reason and surpsied they could do this without my SSN more-so.

When I pick up my car tomorrow or friday I certainly will catch them off guard when I ask them why they pulled my credit by a SP and see what they have to say if they deny it will show them a picture/print out and ask a bit off for my maintenance even though insurance is covering most of it.. Kind of feel like they violated my trust to be quite honest and a bit mad about it to be honest

[Anonymous]

I think you mentioned in your first post that you requested the dealership give you a loaner car. 

Doing a pull of a person's credit (especially if is only a soft pull) is very common when a business is loaning or renting you a car.  They may additionally ask for other things, such as a credit card.  But as you can imagine, if they were to pull your credit and see that you have a pattern of default on obligations and that your current cards are close to being maxxed out, that well could raise very legitimate worry, compared to someone with a clean report, a good score, and low CC utilization.

I wouldn't stress out about it.  Businesses don't have to have your explicit agreement for them to pull your credit.  They just need to have a legitimate business reason for doing that.  Loaning you something as expensive as a car is such a reason, especially when common practice in the relevant industry (auto rental) is to do a credit pull.

[CreditCuriosity]

@Anonymous ok didn't know auto rentals did SP to your credit as well assumed since they had my Amex obviously a CC and my insurance that should be good enough (being insurance if I mess up the car along with the CC to cover any damages not like I am going to steak the car when they have my more expensive car there) also had my car which was quite a bit more expensive than the loaner that they gave me.  Although I suppose that makes sense just weird still IMO, but if it is common practice to SP people on rentals which I didn't know that makes sense the weird thing is that is the only CRA that happened to be open as my other two are on ice so wonder what would of happened if EQ was froozen to I suspect I still would of been able to drive off with the loaner just the same.  Anyways least it is a bit of an explanation.  Thanks

[Anonymous]

It is very easy to sp. One biz we owned had a high default rate of project completion by vendors usually because they were undercapitalized. 

We used to sp any vendors that were supplying items we could not afford project delays due to lack of funds. Half of our prospective vendors we cut because they owed so much money if the wind blew the wrong way they were out of biz.   All we needed was owner's name and address.