Here's a brief synopsis of what happened: I saw on some boards a blurb about a company called Clearcredit (www.clearcredit.com) based in California and went to their web site. I saw it as a way of getting a free tri-merge credit report and FICO evaluation, so I signed up. They charge $7.95 per dispute to dispute things in your credit file, so I didn't indicate to dispute any. I got my tri-merge credit report then e-mailed a cancellation of my membership. That was Friday May 30. On Saturday May 31 I saw a new inquiry on my CRA reports from a mortgage company called Iqualifynow.com based in NY. On Sunday June 1 I got an email from Iqualifynow saying I qualified for a 300,000 mortgage through them and that they got my name and information from Clearcredit. I have already sent an ITS letter to Iqualifynow for pulling an unauthorized CRA report on me. Tonight I send another ITS letter to Clearcredit for givingmy confidential information to Iqualifnow.com without my permission. Even the fine print in Clearcredit's Terms if Service mentions nothing about that. I knw that Clearcredit committed some violation of the FCRA by giving to Iqualifynow enough information about me taken from my CRA file so that Iqualifynow could take theoir own copy, but just WHAT PART of FCRA did they violate? I can\'t find any that deal with the unauthorized selling of my file by a non-CRA. I even looked in Gramm-Leach-Bliley for a violation, but the only sanctions are criminal. I don't want them in jail. I jsut want to sue them for this gross violation of my privacy. There HAS to be some violation somewhere, but WHERE?
How do you know that they aren't both owned by the same company? Did you e mail or call them and ask?
Good question - one is in NY and the other in CA. Besides, the published Privacy polict of ClearCredit says they will not give out private information to anyone under any circumstances. I see what taht's worth. Neverthe;less, I did not authorize a pull for purposes of soliciting me for a mortgage.
The section you are looking for has to do with permissible perposes. Clearcredit can sell your info, BUT, the place that pulled the hard inquiry does not have PP to pull your files.
They can sell my info even though their privacy policy says they won't? Then why have a privacy policy you don't intend to follow? And isn't that a violation of Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act?
Re: Re: FCRA violation - but WHICH part? If they only gave your name and address out, you might be hard put to prove that is "private information. In any case, you still have the one company on no PP IMHO.
Re: Re: FCRA violation - but WHICH part? ummm I might be streching it here but I would think it would be in the FCRA, where it talks about getting a credit report under false pretenses!!!!!!
Re: Re: FCRA violation - but WHICH part? Did you read Clear Credit's Terms of Use? Cross promotion with various financial institutions and e-partners may provide members with access to credit cards, auto loans, auto leases, mortgages, student loans and other comprehensive loan programs on possibly more favorable terms than...
Just to confirm, this was a hard inquiry? If not, then I wouldn't worry about it. It was probably a promo inquiry which is permissible. If it was a hard inquiry, uh oh! A hard inquiry may only be pulled for purposes of collections (which doesn't apply here), employment (which doesn't apply here), or out of an application for credit (which doesn't apply here). There are other reasons like in connection with the underwriting of insurance, etc. This is all explained in 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(3) It really comes down to the fact that, under the above referenced FCRA provision, they had no permissible purpose to access your report. It does not matter who gave them your info. If it was a hard inquiry, they did NOT have authorization to access your report. Regarding the company that sent you the report, that is a whole different can of worms if they gave your information to another company. It is my belief that they are somehow associated and therefore there is some clause in the agreement that states your information can be shared within affiliated / associated companies or some BS like that. But...like I said...if it was a HARD inquiry, they are in deep do-do. It doesn't matter what information they have. Immediately send them an ITS and give them 10 days to have the inquiry removed. Tell them you want a copy of the letter sent to the agency requesting the removal. Tell them they had no permissible purpose to access your report. DO NOT!!!! worry about explaining the law, what law they broke, etc. Simply stating, "I am writing you concerning your recent inquiry into my [whatever] credit report. I did not authorize your inquiry nor did you have any other permissible purpose to access my report. I am giving you 10 days to contact [whatever] to have this inquiry immediately removed. Please forward me the letter that you sent to [whatever] requesting the removal. If I do not hear from you within 10 days of receipt of this letter, you will be sued." DO NOT state, if I am mistaken, please send me proof that I authorized your inquiry. This makes it sound like you are unsure about your letter. They accessed it without your auhtorization.... it is as simple as that. Send it certified mail with return receipt so you have proof they signed for it. If they don't respond, walk (or drive) to your nearest small claims court and sue them. They have absolutely no case at all. You do not need to send follow up letters. They signed and successfully received the first one. They can't dispute they never received it so there is no need to send them any more. They have no case. In small claims, you sue for $1000. DO NOT play games. Give them 10 days and then sue. I have learned, the more letters you send threatening to sue, the less likely they are to listen.
To JLynn While I thank you for your post, it addressed the wrong side of my question. The company that put the hard inquiry on my credit file with no PP already has been sent an ITS letter (the heck with the PP letter). My question is the company that pulled my CRA file WITH my permission in order to tri-merge it. I did authorize the pull, but not the transfer of my info to the OTHER company that did the hard pull. Funny thing is, the company that I authorized to pull - I can't even find a soft pull on their name. What are my grounds to sue the company that gave my personal info away to the company that did the hard pull in violation of their own privacy policy?
Re: To JLynn I think it did...if I understand you correctly. I am saying that you MAY not have a legitimate complaint against Clearcredit; just iqualifynow.com In Clear Credit's TOS it mentions cross promotion with affiliates, and you might have agreed to the sharing of information (it was late last night when I strolled over), WITH AFFILIATES but you did not agree to the hard pull. I believe that hard pulls can be obtained with just a name and address, and I am not sure that qualifies as private information (unlike your SS#). What I'm saying is, you will have to first prove whether iqualifynow is or isn't an affiliate - if it is, Clearcredit may be clear, if not, then you might have a case.
Re: To JLynn I read all 12 pages of Clearcredit's TOS and it does not mention any use of my credit file except for dispututing it with CRA's which I opted not to do by cancelling their service. Really, I was a member of Clearcredit for less than ten minutes. The Hard Inquiry was days later. While I have not yet been able to ascertain whether Iqualifynow is related to Clearcredit or not, I do know that Clearcredit is located in California and Iqualifynow is in New York. I also spoke with a staff attorney at the FTC in Washington and, while he said he will get back to me on Tuesday, his first indication is that Clearcredit violated FCRA by becominga reseller of CRA files, which subjects them to FCRA and the restrictions on the use of a CRA file. I'll know more Tuesday.
Re: Re: To JLynn Location in this wired world doesn't mean much... Did ya think about emailing Clearcredit and just asking them? Is iqualifnow.com an affiliate?
Re: Re: To JLynn read carefully, i remember reading somewhere on their site that they don't pull the credit files under their name of ClearCredit - think of it this way, wouldn't that be a concrete red flag of using a CRO. but they pull the reports using their affiliates and subsidiaries... (this would explan why your report had the inquiry from the other company, and why there wasn't a ClearCredit inquiry.) if i remember correectly it was somewhere in the sections where they are telling you that if you don't send them a copy of your credit reports to verify that the accounts were not deleted, that they would have to have an affiliate pull the report and assess another charge to your account for the additional report, or something similar...
Re: Re: Re: To JLynn That makes no sense since their Terms of Service specifically gives THEM authority to pull the CRA file, but says nothing about an affiliate pulling one for them. Also, it's a matter of timing - they had my tri-merge report in minutes while the other company pulled 2 days later. Doesn't fit the actual events.
Re: Re: Re: To JLynn "I also spoke with a staff attorney at the FTC in Washington and, while he said he will get back to me on Tuesday, his first indication is that Clearcredit violated FCRA by becominga reseller of CRA files, which subjects them to FCRA and the restrictions on the use of a CRA file. I'll know more Tuesday." Hang your hat there, FlyingF, I posted this is in your other thread -- you should cross-link. They are a reseller making them subject to the disputing provisions of the FCRA. They have the audacity to charge 7.95 per dispute and THEN advertise as a bonus you get 2 free disputes every 60 days. The charging also makes them a CRO. Sassy
