What to Do When You Have Unauthorized Hard Inquiries (2024)

FAQs

How do I get rid of unauthorized hard inquiries? ›

What to do: Contact the creditor responsible for the hard inquiry. You should be able to find their contact details on their official website or social media page. Explain that you believe there is an error on your credit report and request that they remove the inquiry.

If warranted, file a dispute with the corresponding credit bureau. If you dispute errors in your credit reports, including unauthorized hard inquiries, the credit bureaus are required to investigate. They're also required to correct information that's found to be inaccurate.

This typically only happens when debt collection issues, government agencies or court orders are involved. For example, someone can perform a hard credit inquiry on your credit report without permission if: They are a debt collector trying to verify what you owe.

Can you sue for unauthorized credit inquiries? You do have the right to sue for willful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). You should consult with an attorney if you are considering this route.

If you can't trace the reason for a hard inquiry or you believe it was done without your consent, you can dispute it online. If the credit bureau can't confirm it as a legitimate inquiry, it's required to remove it.

To whom this may concern, I am writing to request the removal of unauthorized credit inquiries on my (name of the credit bureau—Equifax, Experian and/or TransUnion) credit report. My latest credit report shows (number of hard inquiries you are disputing) credit inquiries that I did not authorize.

What is the easiest way to remove hard inquiries? The easiest way is to file a dispute directly with the creditor. If the creditor cooperates, the inquiry may be removed after sending a single dispute letter.

However, multiple hard inquiries can deplete your score by as much as 10 points each time they happen. People with six or more recent hard inquiries are eight times as likely to file for bankruptcy than those with none. That's way more inquiries than most of us need to find a good deal on a car loan or credit card.

The short answer is yes, but it depends on things like how many inquiries a credit bureau receives for you in a short period of time, and the type of inquiry.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), consumers have the right to accurate and up-to-date credit reports. If you discover an unauthorized inquiry on your credit report, it's essential to address it quickly.

Is it worth disputing a hard inquiry? ›

Should You Remove Hard Inquiries? The idea of removing hard inquiries from your credit report to improve your credit score may sound appealing. But disputing a genuine hard inquiry on your credit report will likely not result in any change to your scores. You can, however, dispute ones that are a result of fraud.

As mentioned above, you can't remove a hard pull from your credit report just because you want to lower your credit score. If you gave the lender or credit card company permission to delve into your financial background, that inquiry will be on your credit report.

When you request a copy of your credit report, you will see a list of anyone who has requested your credit report within the past year, including any employers or prospective employers who have requested your report within the past two years for employment purposes.

Disputing hard inquiries on your credit report involves working with the credit reporting agencies and possibly the creditor that made the inquiry. Hard inquiries can't be removed, however, unless they're the result of identity theft. Otherwise, they'll have to fall off naturally, which happens after two years.

Credit repair companies can't remove legitimate hard inquiries from your credit report, and neither can anyone else. And there's really no need to pay a credit repair company to get an inaccurate inquiry removed, since you can do that yourself for free.