I have a couple of unauthorized HARD inquiries on my credit report. I have sent several letters asking why they pulled it and to send me proof they had permission. I haven't gotten anything back from one and the other sent me a letter saying I applied for a card on the internet and they can't send me proof that I applied for the card because there isn't any. I have tried send several letters to the companies agent of service and legal department with no results.How do I go about filing suit against these companies for their violations?
If they have no proof of permission, that is their problem. It is their responsibility to ensure they have permissible purpose, just as it is their responsibility to ensure another party is not applying under a false name, whether it is on-line or not. They also must certify to CRAs their reason for pulling at the time they pull. If you did not apply, there could be these possiblities: 1) Someone is applying in your name. ID theft and no PP. They should remove inquiry. They should also cooperate with law enforcement in tracking down ID theft suspect. 2) Someone applied in their own name, but they pulled your report by mistake. No PP, they may be confusing you with them. They should remove inquiry. Liable under FCRA. 3) They pulled your report by mistake. No PP. They should remove inquiry. Liable under FCRA. If you are sure you did not apply, you could file police report on suspected ID theft attempt. In California, (I don't know about other states) they must provide you, or law enforcement you designate, with any application or other evidence in ID theft cases, to assist in blocking perpetrator from additional attempts. Even if application was on line, they should know what information the applicant entered, including SSN and DOB used, when it was entered, what address was used, any promotion codes from mailed offers, and what address the offer was mailed to, etc. If they are just brushing you off, since this may involve ID theft, contact your state AG.
I have sent numerous letters to these people, I have sent the to their legal department and I still get no response. I intend on suing but I have never done it before. What is my next step? Please help!
1. Find the name and address of their Statutory Agent. This is usually available on line, you just need to know which state they do business in. The address as reported by the CRA is usually good. Let's say it's New York. Go to the New York State web page (usually www.state.XX.us where XX is the state's 2 letter abbreviation). Go to the Secretary of State (May also be Corporation Commission), and look in the Corporation Section. There is usually a Corporate Name Search engine. Use it. Find the offending company and the State will usually provide the name and address of their Statutory Agent for service of summons. I have already used this for AZ, CA, OH, NY, GA and IL. 2. Go to you own State's Civil Law. It will be found on your state's web page. Here in AZ, on the AZ web page there is a link to "Bills, Laws & Legislation". From there you link to "Arizona Revised Statutes", from there to "Title 12, Courts and Civil Proceedings", then scrool down to "Chapter 4 - Venue" (Venue means Jurisdiction) and look for a section called "Venue". Here in AZ it reads like this: 12-401. Venue No person shall be sued out of the county in which such person resides, except: 1. When a defendant or all of several defendants reside without the state or their residence is unknown, the action may be brought in the county in which the plaintiff resides..... That section gives me the right to sue an out-of state company in my own county's courts. Your state's laws probably contain a similar provision - go find it. The links will not be identical, but they should be similar. 3. Here in Pima County AZ I can file a small claims action on line. I now have the defendant's name, address, Statutory Agent's name and address, the section of law the company violated and a credit card with $19 available to it. If you can't file on line, go down to the Small Claims Court in your county and ask the clerk for help - they are usually very helpful. 4. Sue the ba$tards, and stop threatening. Maybe they will treat the summons with more respect than they treated your letters. If not, then you will go back to the Court in 2 months and get your Default Judgement.
