Capital One unexplanably checking my credit report 43 times in 2 years! without my consent Salt Lake City Utah
Upon checking my own personal credit report one night I found that Capital One had been checking very often, in fact 40 some times in just 2 short years. The explanation I got was it is an unknown practice and that it would " usually only hurt my credit report score a little bit." Untill you multiple a little by 43 times in 2 years.
I received offers from them every week and usually shredded them into the garbage. My wife too received these multiple checks on her record.
We are trying to buy a house and were told our score is too low for the loan, due to countless checks on our credit report lately!
So basically Capital hosed my wife and I and are only willing to TRY to stop sending us offers in the mail. Never was I told why they checked our reports so often!
Cory
casper, Wyoming
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Mike
Radford,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Hard or soft inquiries?
#6Consumer Suggestion
Tue, July 25, 2006
There are two kinds of credit checks that companies can make. The "hard" inquiry occurs when you apply for a new account or possibly a credit limit increase on an existing account. These hurt your score. Companies can make "soft" or "promotional" inquiries without your permission. These are used to make offers, check your creditworthiness in relation to an existing account, or various more nefarious purposes.
"Soft" inquiries do not affect your credit score. The reports that companies look at after you apply for credit will not show the "soft" inquires at all.
You can prevent a lot of soft inquires by "opting out". It is essential to "opt out" before shopping for a mortgage in any case. Crooked companies will buy lists of people who applied for mortgages and then put false bad things on their reports to extort a payment required to close the mortgage.
Jennifer
Richmond,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Hard vs Soft Inquiries
#6Consumer Suggestion
Tue, July 25, 2006
There are two types of credit inquiries: hard and soft.
Hard inquiries are those that take place when a lender is responding to your application for credit/loan. If you apply for a loan, credit card, mortgage, etc. It is these inquiries which can negatively affect your credit score, because if they only appear if you're applying for something.
Soft inquiries are those that take place when a business just needs to check out your credit but not because you have applied for anything. Lenders (like credit card companies) make soft inquiries (also known as "presceening inquiries") to see what kinds of offers you'd be eligible to receive in the mail. Potential employers check your credit when looking into possibly hiring you, which is a soft inquiry. Likewise, every time you check your own credit report, a soft inquiry will appear.
Hard inquiries appear on your credit report and anyone accessing your credit report will see any hard inquiries. These inquiries CAN affect your credit score.
Soft inquiries only appear when YOU request a copy of your credit report. Anyone else accessing your credit report will NOT see any soft inquiries, only hard inquiries. According to the Federal Trade Commission, soft inquiries have no impact whatsoever on one's credit score.
But don't take my word for it. You can read about this on a webpage written by the Illinois Attorney General (it's a PDF):
illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/ credit_inquiries.pdf
You can also Google "hard vs soft inquiries" to research this issue more if you need to.
My guess is that all or most of those 43 inquiries you're seeing are actually soft inquiries. If you've been told that there have been a lot of inquiries on your report lately, ask how many, and by whom. Perhaps you have an identity theft issue on your hands (hopefully not).
For more information about prescreening, as well as how to opt out of prescreening, go to
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.htm
Jennifer
Richmond,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Hard vs Soft Inquiries
#6Consumer Suggestion
Tue, July 25, 2006
There are two types of credit inquiries: hard and soft.
Hard inquiries are those that take place when a lender is responding to your application for credit/loan. If you apply for a loan, credit card, mortgage, etc. It is these inquiries which can negatively affect your credit score, because if they only appear if you're applying for something.
Soft inquiries are those that take place when a business just needs to check out your credit but not because you have applied for anything. Lenders (like credit card companies) make soft inquiries (also known as "presceening inquiries") to see what kinds of offers you'd be eligible to receive in the mail. Potential employers check your credit when looking into possibly hiring you, which is a soft inquiry. Likewise, every time you check your own credit report, a soft inquiry will appear.
Hard inquiries appear on your credit report and anyone accessing your credit report will see any hard inquiries. These inquiries CAN affect your credit score.
Soft inquiries only appear when YOU request a copy of your credit report. Anyone else accessing your credit report will NOT see any soft inquiries, only hard inquiries. According to the Federal Trade Commission, soft inquiries have no impact whatsoever on one's credit score.
But don't take my word for it. You can read about this on a webpage written by the Illinois Attorney General (it's a PDF):
illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/ credit_inquiries.pdf
You can also Google "hard vs soft inquiries" to research this issue more if you need to.
My guess is that all or most of those 43 inquiries you're seeing are actually soft inquiries. If you've been told that there have been a lot of inquiries on your report lately, ask how many, and by whom. Perhaps you have an identity theft issue on your hands (hopefully not).
For more information about prescreening, as well as how to opt out of prescreening, go to
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.htm
Jennifer
Richmond,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Hard vs Soft Inquiries
#6Consumer Suggestion
Tue, July 25, 2006
There are two types of credit inquiries: hard and soft.
Hard inquiries are those that take place when a lender is responding to your application for credit/loan. If you apply for a loan, credit card, mortgage, etc. It is these inquiries which can negatively affect your credit score, because if they only appear if you're applying for something.
Soft inquiries are those that take place when a business just needs to check out your credit but not because you have applied for anything. Lenders (like credit card companies) make soft inquiries (also known as "presceening inquiries") to see what kinds of offers you'd be eligible to receive in the mail. Potential employers check your credit when looking into possibly hiring you, which is a soft inquiry. Likewise, every time you check your own credit report, a soft inquiry will appear.
Hard inquiries appear on your credit report and anyone accessing your credit report will see any hard inquiries. These inquiries CAN affect your credit score.
Soft inquiries only appear when YOU request a copy of your credit report. Anyone else accessing your credit report will NOT see any soft inquiries, only hard inquiries. According to the Federal Trade Commission, soft inquiries have no impact whatsoever on one's credit score.
But don't take my word for it. You can read about this on a webpage written by the Illinois Attorney General (it's a PDF):
illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/ credit_inquiries.pdf
You can also Google "hard vs soft inquiries" to research this issue more if you need to.
My guess is that all or most of those 43 inquiries you're seeing are actually soft inquiries. If you've been told that there have been a lot of inquiries on your report lately, ask how many, and by whom. Perhaps you have an identity theft issue on your hands (hopefully not).
For more information about prescreening, as well as how to opt out of prescreening, go to
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.htm
Jennifer
Richmond,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Hard vs Soft Inquiries
#6Consumer Suggestion
Tue, July 25, 2006
There are two types of credit inquiries: hard and soft.
Hard inquiries are those that take place when a lender is responding to your application for credit/loan. If you apply for a loan, credit card, mortgage, etc. It is these inquiries which can negatively affect your credit score, because if they only appear if you're applying for something.
Soft inquiries are those that take place when a business just needs to check out your credit but not because you have applied for anything. Lenders (like credit card companies) make soft inquiries (also known as "presceening inquiries") to see what kinds of offers you'd be eligible to receive in the mail. Potential employers check your credit when looking into possibly hiring you, which is a soft inquiry. Likewise, every time you check your own credit report, a soft inquiry will appear.
Hard inquiries appear on your credit report and anyone accessing your credit report will see any hard inquiries. These inquiries CAN affect your credit score.
Soft inquiries only appear when YOU request a copy of your credit report. Anyone else accessing your credit report will NOT see any soft inquiries, only hard inquiries. According to the Federal Trade Commission, soft inquiries have no impact whatsoever on one's credit score.
But don't take my word for it. You can read about this on a webpage written by the Illinois Attorney General (it's a PDF):
illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/ credit_inquiries.pdf
You can also Google "hard vs soft inquiries" to research this issue more if you need to.
My guess is that all or most of those 43 inquiries you're seeing are actually soft inquiries. If you've been told that there have been a lot of inquiries on your report lately, ask how many, and by whom. Perhaps you have an identity theft issue on your hands (hopefully not).
For more information about prescreening, as well as how to opt out of prescreening, go to
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.htm