I called TU today because I received a letter back from them after challenging one of the hard inquiries on my credit report with them. I had some procedural questions and wanted to make sure I understood the letter correctly. The customer service representative on the telephone said that he did not have access to my information and that it had been "locked." My account was turned over to a "special" department to handle it. I asked what kind of special department. He said it was in the legal department. I asked why. He said he didn't know. I asked why types of files are turned over to the legal department. He said they are turned over to them if there was an attorney general's complaint (what?!?) or some other suspecious activity (double what?!?). He said that he couldn't help me and that a supervisor would have to call me back. Before I discovered this bulletin board I cleaned up all of my credit reports and no longer have any derogatory tradelines on it. I have never once been accused of submitting a frivolous claim. All of my protests were factual and all of my correspondance was written by myself on my own with little or no outside help. All of my past accounts that weren't paid off were paid off in full without ever filing BK. So heres' the question...have any of you encountered this? What could TU be up to? Should I be concerned? FYI...the letter I received from TU dealt with my request to delete a hard inquiry. It stated: "The inquiries listed on your credit report are a record of the companies that obtained your credit information. All inquiries remain on your credit report for two years. Credit information will be provided only for the following permissible purposes: credit transactions, employment consideration, review or collection of an account, insurance underwriting, government licensing, rental dwelling, or a response to a court order. Your writtent authorization may not be required to constitute a permissible purpose. You may refer to the Fair Credit Reporting Act for more information regarding permissible purpose. If you blieve that an inquiry on your credit report was made without a persmissible purpose, then you may wish to contact the creditor directly." Hawg Hanner
Any time a lawyer is involved, the threat of legal action and in my case, the company I work for has the word attorney in it the name, they send your file to this "special" dep't. In your case, it probably has to do with your dispute of the inquiry. Exactly how did you dispute it?
October 7, 2002 Trans Union Consumer Relations P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 Phone: (800) 916-8800 RE: First Premier Bank Credit Inquiry (File # xxxxxxxxx) To Whom It May Concern: I recently received a copy of my credit report (Trans Union file # xxxxxxxxx). After carefully reviewing its contents, I noticed an unauthorized inquiry made by a company called First Premier Bank. Not only have I never contacted any company called or affiliated with First Premier Bank, I have never even received correspondence from First Premier Bank. I never signed or agreed to any First Premier Bank consumer credit inquiry. Please also note that the inquiry is listed as a â??jointâ? inquiry. Not only am I not married (or have any partner), I have never before signed a joint application and nor do I have a reason to do so. As such, I am kindly requesting that Trans Union investigate this matter and remove this inquiry from my credit file immediately. Please investigate the inquiry in question under the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 USC section 1681i. A period of 30 days shall be â??reasonable timeâ? to investigate the inquiry in question, unless you notify me immediately otherwise. Failure to verify the above information within the 30-day time period constitutes â??non-verificationâ? and the inquiry in question must be immediately removed from my credit file and credit report according to 15 USC section 1681i(a). Also, 15 USC sections 1681i(d) and 1681j of the FCRA require that I receive written notification of the appropriate corrections, along with an updated credit report (no charge), and an updated credit report be sent to anyone who received my report within the last six months. Thank you very much for your cooperation. I look forward to having this matter resolved as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me by calling xxx-xxx-xxxx (office) or xxx-xxx-xxxx (mobile). Sincerely, Hawg Hanner Encl. Copy of Driverâ??s License, Social Security Card and Birth Certificate to Verify Identity
Your letter could give the impression that something funny is going on with your credit report. I suspect that they put you into special handling just to make sure nothing funny is going on. Call them again tomorrow and demand that they transfer you to someone in that department now.
What specifically in my letter might give them the impression that something funny is going on? Hawg Hanner
looks like your using a credit repair co. too much quoting of the law for an initial dispute, my opinion
I'm not at all...but so what if I was? Is it illegal to employ the services of a credit repair company? Hawg Hanner
It is ok to fix a broken car, but not o.k. to fix a broken credit report. Yet a broken credit report will cost you more than a broken car. Just needed to ramble as equifax just broke more of my credit report. I am going directly to the lender to see if they actually verified wrong information.
No. You'll have to wait until November 7, though, before taking the next step to exercise and protect your rights. What else did their letter to you say?
He may have disputed some things previously. People hire credit repair companies for many reasons. Like I said it was just my opinion. I have never quoted the FCRA in any of my disputes first go around. Omly AFTER they do something wrong. I mean, how many average consumers know anything about the FCRA much less can quote it? It just seems suspicious in the CRA's eyes. Have you read about these letters that TU is sending out about credit repair cos.? I'll bet Hawg gets one.
That's really all it said, aside from standard boiler plate stuff in there. Why must I wait until November 7th? Wait until November 7th for what? Hawg Hanner
No Hawg, but the CRA's DO NOT LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! iF YOU ARE USING ONE AND THEY THINK YOU ARE THEY WILL FLAG YOUR ACCOUNT
I'm saying that the following "may" have given someone at TU the impression that maybe a fraudulent app had been made using your name. Just a possibility. I noticed an unauthorized inquiry made by a company called First Premier Bank. Not only have I never contacted any company called or affiliated with First Premier Bank, I have never even received correspondence from First Premier Bank. I never signed or agreed to any First Premier Bank consumer credit inquiry. Please also note that the inquiry is listed as a â??jointâ? inquiry. Not only am I not married (or have any partner), I have never before signed a joint application and nor do I have a reason to do so. As such, I am kindly requesting that Trans Union investigate this matter and remove this inquiry from my credit file immediately.
Ah! Thanks for the food-for-thought. I can see that now, too. But I don't have a clue who they are and it's the only inquiry that shows up as "joint" on my account. Hawg Hanner
That's 30 days from the date of your letter. You even spelled it out above: They have 30 days to reinvestigate.
But they responded and told me to contact the creditors to remove the hard inquiry. They said they could not do it (see above). Hawg Hanner
