You got a free credit report from a credit bureau and were surprised to find more than expected credit enquiries on your report. Most people just don't care about the unwarranted inquiries on their credit report but is does impact your credit score. There are two types of credit inquiries- hard inquiries and soft inquiries. Soft inquiries are done for marketing purposes and don't impact your credit score. Hard inquiries are made by lenders to whom you have applied for a loan. However, some lenders, by mistake or intentionally, make hard inquiries on borrower's credit report without the borrower applying for a loan with the lender. And it is hard inquiries that affect your credit score and your prospects of getting a loan in future. That's why it is in your best interest to remove credit inquiries for loan application you have not made. Here is a step-to-step guide on how you can remove inquiries:
- Contact each company and explain to them that an inquiry on your credit report has been made without you applying for a loan with the lender. Request that they send proof if they insist that you have applied with them.
- If the company is unable to provide documentary proof then request them to remove the inquiry from your credit report, at the earliest, as it is against law. Ask for a written agreement and insist on a time frame. Be polite in all your conversation.
- Contact the credit reporting bureau with which this particular inquiry was made and tell them that an unauthorized inquiry has been made without you applying for any credit. Give your personal details such as social security number, date of birth etc., and the details of the lender who has made the inquiry and request the bureau to remove it from your report.
Most of the inquiries are removed if the concerned lender is unable to prove its legitimacy. Verify by getting a credit report from the bureau so that you can check if all unauthorized inquiries have been removed or not. You can sue the lender if he has not removed the credit inquiry. You are protected by law against illegitimate credit inquiries and other inaccuracies in your credit report. Use your rights and make your credit report accurate for better borrowing.