I disputed two hard inquiries that were from companies totally foreign to me. I have really and truly never had any relationship of any kind with them at any time. CRA said inquiries are a matter of fact and cannot be disputed. How can they let every Tom, Dick and Harry have access to my personal information? Why arent' consumer's and the FTC forcing the CRA's to see actual written proof of "permissible purpose" prior to giving out info? And if the info they are propogating about me is erroneous and detrimental to me, shouldn't that be a cause for libel?
I don't know about the legal aspects of it but if you want to stop it from happening going forward you can opt out from pre-aproved credit card offers by calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688).
Yes, opting out should prevent any inquires from happening at all, unless you specifically initiate a request for credit. Jambe, you have a point in that a person should not be getting hard inquires on their credit report but opting out should prevent it.
Opting out does diddly doo, trust me! I even asked the CBR if I could add a fraud alert to stop anyone from pulling my report without my permission. Her reply, that doesn't stop them, that just stops them from issuing credit if you didn't apply. (but you STILL get the inquiry) See my latest post "credit inquiries". The only thing opting out does is stops the annoying "pre approved" offers and all the PRM that you see on your report.
Lyttlemac I suppose you can send a certified return recite requested latter to the company that pulled a hard inquiry on you and ask them to provide a copy of your signature. One of the problems these days with the on line credit applications is that these do not require a signature. If you want to go down this road you can threaten to sue them in small claims court. Azur24 By CBR do you mean a credit bureau rep? I would not believe much a credit bureau rep said about anything. The more data bases you are in the more of a chance that your personal data is in the wrong hands. A unauthorized hard inquiry can be the first sign of identity theft.
Thanks all. ...But I'm still wondering... why we aren't holding the CRA's, as compilers and keepers of the info, responsible for disseminating our personal information to unauthorized companies/individuals? Why aren't the CRA's accountable, and why are they allowed to put all the responsibility for clearing it up on the consumer? Doesn't it make sense that the CRA should be required to see actual evidence of either a credit request initiated by the consumer, or some sort of relationship between the consumer and the requestor.
Why aren't the CRA's accountable, and why are they allowed to put all the responsibility for clearing it up on the consumer? lyttlemac | ======================= Because of the snaggletoothed rap on the knuckles consumer protection laws!
