The FCRA is constructed such that the authority to receive a consumer's credit report (i.e., a "credit inquiry") does not need the consumer's express authorization if the party making the inquiry has one or more or the "permissible purposes" that are listed in FCRA 604/
In a nutshell, if the consumer initiates a business transaction or request for new or increased credit, that proivides permissible purpose for receiving the consumer's credti report without any specific permission from the consumer. The act if the consumer initiating the request for credit or the business transaction provides the permission.
Record of most inquiries can generally be shown in subsequent credit reports obtained by others, and thus can be included in credit scoring.
A so-called "soft" inquiry is one that is excluded from credit reports obtained by anyone other than the named consumer, and thus cannot be included in credit scoring.
In an informal process, certain types of inquiries can be coded with the CRAs such that they are "soft," and thus excluded from view and scoring.
Notable types of soft inquiries include a review done by an existing creditor, or a consumer's pull of ther own credit report.
