You probably don’t spend your Saturday nights scrolling through your credit report for fun, but maybe you should. Unauthorized credit inquiries are a bigger deal than you think.
Hidden in the pages of your credit report are entries that quietly mess with your financial reputation- the unauthorized credit inquiry. These inquiries can lower your credit score, confuse future lenders, and even hint at potential fraud.
Thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have the right to challenge anything on your credit report that shouldn’t be there.
Before we dive into your rights and how to fight back, we’ll explain what an unauthorized credit inquiry actually is.
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What is an Unauthorized Credit Inquiry?
Some credit inquiries are harmless (soft inquiries), while others carry real consequences (hard inquiries).
In the credit world, inquiries come in two varieties, soft credit inquiries- which are harmless- and hard credit inquiries- which carry real consequences.
- Soft inquiries: These DON’T impact your credit score at all, and in most cases, you won’t even notice them.
- Typically, these happen when you check your own credit report on sites like credit karma, when a potential employer does a background check that doesn’t affect your credit, or when you get a pre-approved offer for a credit card.
- Hard inquiries: These DO impact your credit score. Each one can lower your credit score by a couple of points. If you stack up several, suddenly you’re dealing with a decent hit to your credit score.
- Typically, these are triggered when you apply for credit through products like mortgages, car loans, personal loans, credit cards, and even some utility accounts.
An unauthorized credit inquiry, sometimes referred to as an FCRA unauthorized credit inquiry, happens when a company pulls your credit report without your permission or a legitimate reason.
So, if you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why did my credit score drop?” there’s a decent chance a hard inquiry, or worse, an unauthorized hard credit inquiry is to blame.
The real danger is that unauthorized hard inquiries can add up quickly, lowering your credit score and raising red flags with lenders.
Lenders view clusters of hard credit inquiries as a sign that someone is applying for too much credit at once. An unauthorized credit inquiry unfairly creates data points that lenders use to assess your creditworthiness.
This is why spotting and disputing an unauthorized credit inquiry is essential for protecting your financial reputation.
What Are Your Rights to Fight an Unauthorized Credit Inquiry?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was created to give you control over who peeks at your credit report and why. An unauthorized credit inquiry isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s something the law actually gives you tools to fight.
The FCRA helps you challenge an unauthorized credit inquiry by giving you these key rights:
- The Right to Know Who Pulled Your Credit
Every time someone checks your credit, it leaves a trail. That’s why inquiries show up on your credit report with the date and the name of the company or lender.- You have the right to see the list and demand transparency. If you don’t recognize an inquiry on your credit report and suspect it’s an unauthorized credit inquiry, you’re entitled to answers.
- The Right to Accuracy and Removal
The FCRA requires credit bureaus like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to maintain accurate files. This means if there’s an unauthorized credit inquiry, you can demand that it be investigated and, if proven invalid, removed.- This isn’t optional for the credit bureaus- it is their legal obligation to remove hard credit inquiries from your credit report if your express authorization cannot be verified.
- The Right to an Investigation
Once you discover an unauthorized credit inquiry and file a dispute, the credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate and get back to you.- They must contact the company that pulled your credit and verify the authorization. If the company can’t prove that it either (a) had your consent or (b) had a legally “permissible purpose” for running the hard credit inquiry, the credit bureaus must delete it.
- The Right to Take Legal Action
Here’s what they don’t always tell you about an unauthorized credit inquiry – if a company accessed your credit report without authorization, it may be a violation of federal law.- Under the FCRA, you have the right to sue for damages, whether or not you can prove financial loss. In fact, if your credit score dropped because of that unauthorized credit inquiry, your case is even stronger.
Too often, consumers are told to “just ignore it.” But an unauthorized credit inquiry can signal identity theft, sloppy lender practices, or both. Knowing your rights is the first step toward protecting your credit score, your future loans, and ultimately your financial reputation.
Check out The Consumer Justice Blog or our Practice Page to read about other ways we can help consumers fight for justice under the law.
How to Dispute an Unauthorized Credit Inquiry
So, how do you actually fight an unauthorized credit inquiry? This is where most people feel overwhelmed. But don’t worry, it’s doable, and it starts with a plan.
- Pull your credit reports. Get them directly from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Free sites like Credit Karma or Lending Tree are fine for quick checks, but when you’re fighting, you need the real deal. All three reports are free at Annualcreditreport.com.
- Identify the unauthorized credit inquiry (and other errors). Highlight it, circle it, draw arrows. Make it clear that this is the one you’ll be disputing.
- Write a dispute letter to each credit bureau. Yes, each one. Just because you get it removed from Experian doesn’t mean it magically disappears from Equifax and TransUnion. Be specific: say you don’t recognize the inquiry, demand they investigate, and cite the FCRA.
- Include evidence if you have it. Sometimes it can be hard to gather evidence to prove a negative- like the fact that you haven’t stepped foot inside a car dealership. But if you have any evidence, you should include it.
- Note that the burden is on the creditor or lender that submitted the information to confirm the inquiry’s authorization, but evidence that bolsters your dispute is still helpful.
- Send it certified mail. This is critical because the credit bureaus sometimes like to claim they never received your dispute letter. A certified receipt leaves them no wiggle room and preserves all of your legal rights (which sometimes get waived when you use online dispute platforms and agree to the terms of use).
- Wait for a response. Under the FCRA, they have 30 days to investigate and respond. If they can’t prove the inquiry was authorized, it has to come off your report.
Disputing Is Your Legal Right!
If you need more guidance, even TransUnion admits this is an issue – see their page on unrecognized inquiry on credit report.
The catch is that TransUnion, and the other credit bureaus, don’t always tell you what happens after you file a dispute. But we’ll tell you- credit bureaus are known to drop the ball, verifying information that is clearly incorrect and leaving you right back at square one.
Having an credit report lawyer from Consumer Justice Law Firm on your side makes it far easier on you to hold the bureaus accountable. We make it impossible for them to just rubber stamp your dispute as “closed” and move on.
Disputing an unauthorized credit inquiry may feel intimidating, but it’s one of the most effective ways to protect your credit report and your credit score.
Whether you’re dealing with one mystery pull or several unauthorized hard credit inquiries, the process is designed to put the burden back where it belongs, on the credit bureaus and the company that inappropriately accessed your file.
Knowing how to remove an unauthorized credit inquiry isn’t just smart, it’s your legal right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Can You Sue for an Unauthorized Credit Inquiry?
The answer is YES – and sometimes it’s the best way forward.
If a company pulled your credit without a permissible purpose, that’s a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. And violations have consequences.
In a lawsuit, you may be eligible to get money for statutory damages, actual damages, and even attorney’s fees.
Unauthorized hard credit inquiries can cause real harm. Maybe they shaved points off your credit score at the worst possible time- like right before you applied for a mortgage.
Maybe they opened the door to fraud. Or maybe they just made you feel powerless. Regardless, the law says you don’t have to accept it and that you have the right to pursue a lawsuit against the companies that conducted the unauthorized credit inquiry and the credit bureaus that continue to report it.
What Type of Lawyer Fights an Unauthorized Credit Inquiry?
So who do you call? Not Ghostbusters. Not your neighbor’s friend who practices family law. You need someone who understands credit reporting laws inside and out.
Ideally, you’ll find a top consumer protection attorney (also called a credit report lawyer) with experience fighting unauthorized credit inquiries under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Yes- you can dispute an unauthorized credit inquiry on your own, but what happens when the credit bureaus send you a generic denial letter? Or when the lender insists the inquiry was “permissible,” even though you know you never gave consent?
A credit report lawyer can help in a few key ways, including these:
- they have the experience to push past common roadblocks where many consumers get stuck
- they know the difference between tradelines that legitimately belong to you and errors that don’t
- they know which evidence and documentation supports your claim
- they know when to recommend a credit freeze, how to protect your credit score long-term, and how to build a case when companies try to stonewall
- they know when it’s time to escalate from dispute to lawsuit and get the resolution you deserve
When you type “credit report lawyer near me” into Google, you’ll see lots of names. But not every firm is equipped to take on unauthorized hard credit inquiries.
At Consumer Justice Law Firm, this is our bread and butter. We know the credit bureaus. We know the lenders. And we know the games they play to avoid responsibility. Our team has the tools to cut through the red tape, file the right claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and, if necessary, take your case to court.
With the right representation, you’re not just disputing, you’re demanding accountability. If an unauthorized credit inquiry is dragging down your credit score or threatening your financial stability, getting professional legal help isn’t just a smart move, it’s your best move!
GET JUSTICE! Fight for Fixes & Money
An unauthorized credit inquiry is more than a nuisance. It can lower your credit score, block you from opportunities, and complicate your financial future. And, it’s often a symptom of bigger problems like sloppy lenders, careless credit bureaus, or potential identity theft and fraud.
At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we fight credit bureaus, lenders, and anyone else who thinks they can violate your rights without consequences. If you catch an unauthorized credit inquiry and you want personalized legal guidance from the start, call us.
If you’ve already begun the dispute process and feel like you’re tired of the runaround and the form letters and you’re ready to take it further, call us.
Because at the end of the day, your credit report isn’t just numbers. It’s your financial DNA. And if someone is going to mess with that, you deserve to fight back and win.
Don’t let an unauthorized credit inquiry go unchecked.
Get answers, get protection, and most importantly – GET JUSTICE!
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