What to do if credit report was pulled without my consent?

What can i do legally or otherwise if a Car dealership pulled my credit report 8 times without my verbal or written consent and it ended up hurting my credit score?

What to do if credit report was pulled without my consent?
Why do I feel you are leaving out some important details here? What's going on?





The dealer has the right to get a credit report on you if you have applied for credit with him. Did you have a business transaction with this dealer (signed or otherwise)? If so, you don't have a leg to stand on.





If no, then he is in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. See the link below for the entire text and see what the law says.








If you did have a business relationship with him, I don't see anywhere in the law that prohibits him from getting it 8 times. He has to pay for each credit report, so if he wants to do that over and over that's his privilage. You can contact the credit reporting agency and explain the situation. They may remove some of the disclosure reports. Be prepared to give them a good explanation.





Now, if you were not applying for a loan, and he did do all of this, you can sue him for any damages that happened as a result. Were you denied credit because of your now lower score? Was the interest rate higher because of it? Were you denied employment? How were you damaged.





You can't sue him just because your score went down. You can report him to the credit bureaus, and they can deny his access to future credit reports.





On a happy note....if you can prove that he willfully requested credit reports, and you did not have a credit application or business relationship with him, he can be sued for $2500 for each violation.





Your next step is to contact the credit agencies. Good luck
Reply:Official answer from Experian:





"The impact of credit inquiries on credit scores is minimal or none at all unless you have other issues with your credit history, such as late payments, high debt, collection accounts or bankruptcy. An inquiry alone will never be the reason your application is declined."





Official answer from the Federal Trade Commission:





Q: Can anyone else can get a copy of my credit report?





A: The FCRA specifies who can access your credit report. Creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use the information in your report to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home are among those that have a legal right to access your report.








It may be a grey area here. You will need to do a bit of digging, I have included the FCRA (FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT) in my third link. It may be wise to have a lawyer look over this if you really are worried about them pulling your credit score to see if they fall under the FCRA.
Reply:Car Dealerships don't need your verbal or written consent to pull your credit.
Reply:I was trying to get a refinance and the broker was pulling my credit report almost every day. I think they do this to see if competition for my business is out there and if not, how bad they can screw you
Reply:A couple of things, First how would the car dealer get your personal identifying information(b-day,SSN,address,etc) without some kind of consent. Did you test drive a car and give them your license? Some dealers pull credit to "pre-qualify" you.





Second, how far apart are the inquiries on your credit file? If they are within a 14 day window then it is considered "rate shopping" and will most likely be treated as one inquiry.





I'm not doubting you, but it is highly unlikely that the same dealer will pull your credit 8 times for 1 potential transaction. But what they will do is "shop" it out to lenders who will in turn pull your credit for verification.





Check your credit reports at www.annualcreditreport.com and verify the dates and companies that requested your credit. Call the dealership and talk to the Finance Manager and ask him what happened.





If they actually did inquire without consent then you do have a legal right to request that they be removed, but the credit bureaus usually don't like to investigate inquiries without some solid documentation.





Good Luck
Reply:First off, I would call one of the credit bureaus to see how you can fix this situation, they can probably give you better advice as to the proper method to correct the situation. If maybe the dealership issues some letter to you explaining their reason and that it was entirely their fault, then maybe this can help fix the problem.





Then I would call the dealership directly and speak to the manager as to why was your credit report pulled so many times without your consent.
Reply:You could defintely attack that, because everytime a credit check is made it can affect your score. Many people trying to rebuild credit are urged not to apply for credit too often.





Employers want to get a look at your credit history, to make decisions about you.





But we may soon be entering into an age where all kinds of privacy rights are being attacked - to the point of tracking our every movements.





Try the website www.SpyChips.com - for more bad news...

ginkgo