Credit Inquiry Removal
How to Do Credit Inquiry Removal the Right Way
Credit scores are always fluctuating monthly. They depend on many variables such as payments, usage, and the kind and number of transactions done. And what usually happens is that credit scores are always tied up to your activities.
What happens most of the time is that there are report errors that you cannot control. Examples of these are credit lines and hard inquiries. If you observe that there is a sudden decrease in rating, that is a good sign that you have just been affected by an unauthorized credit inquiry.
Credit inquiries happen when lenders ask for history from a reporting agency. These inquiries on your history could then have an effect on your credit score and affect it negatively. In most cases, these impacts stay for about two years. This happens because the inquiries reflect the number of times you have sought out new credit.
Lenders will also use the number of times you have used credit to decide whether they should approve a credit extension.
However, there are also times when an unapproved inquiry can be totally removed from your personal credit report. You can do this by creating and following up on a credit inquiry removal letter. This credit inquiry removal will then be directed to the reporting agency. This can also be created using an online dispute.
Does Credit Inquiry Removal Really Work?
Yes, it does. In fact, hard inquiries can be removed from the credit history if they happened without your consent or approval.
At times, hard inquiries can happen without your consent. Such instances include when an identity thief uses your social security number or personal information to open credit accounts. If you suspect something of the sort, you have the right to ask for the inquiry removal.
Here are some of the instances when you can go for credit inquiry removal:
- If it happened without your knowledge.
- If it happened without your consent.
- If it happened more times than your initial expectations.
Hard vs Soft Inquiries
A hard inquiry is when an entity such as a financial lender checks your credit history. It’s normally done when applying for a loan with them. Furthermore, property managers and banks can peruse through your credit report when opening a new checking account with them.
Hard credit inquiries also happen when someone pulls your credit report without your knowledge or consent. In this case, these hard inquiries can be removed from your credit report. This is warranted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act which protects consumers against unauthorized credit information access.
These types of inquiries will remain on your report for two years but can negatively impact your score. That’s because recent loan applicants are often deemed as high-risk borrowers. It can also affect your score if you have a huge debt burden and credit card balances already.
On the other hand, soft inquiries refer to when you or an authorized person reviews your own credit report. They also happen when your employer checks your credit profile just to be sure you’re employable.
They are not a risk indicator, hence they won’t affect your score. Since they don’t affect your credit score, they are also referred to as soft credit pulls or soft credit checks.
Soft credit inquiries are usually not attached to any specific credit application. Instead, they’re just for knowing where a consumer stands with their current credit rating.
The Credit Inquiry Removal Process
Removing a credit inquiry is usually done through sending a certified dispute letter. First, you’ll have to contact the credit reporting entity that reported the inquiry. The removal letter should be sent to the credit reporting agency and the lender who placed the inquiry.
01
Send removal letter
One of the best ways to remove credit inquiries is by creating a credit inquiry removal letter and sending it through certified mail.
Certified mail acts as proof that the lender has received the initial notification. This notification acts as a wakeup call to the agency. It makes them aware that possible legal action could arise against them from these hard inquiries.
02
Lender notification
Before making any move with the reporting agency, make sure to notify the lender about the inquiry on your report. In the letter, ensure you’ve pointed out the specific inquiries that happened without your consent.
This is important if you are planning to continue with the dispute in court later. Notifying lenders about the inquiry makes it official and is the first proper step to take when seeking inquiry removal.
03
Attach a credit report copy
When notifying the lender or sending the certified removal letter to the agency, attach a copy of your credit report.
In the report, ensure you’ve highlighted the hard inquiries that happened without your consent. It’s obvious that the reporting agency already has your report. However, attaching a hard copy with the disputed inquiries highlighted makes their work easier to complete.
Does hard inquiry removal guarantee a score increase?
It sure sounds nice to remove hard inquiries from the credit report you are taking good care of.
Why? Because removing many will usually increase your credit score.
However, it’s not as easy as that. Disputing a legit hard inquiry is likely to not have any significant changes on your score.
But you can dispute the ones that got into your report without your consent or due to fraud. This happens when identity thieves use your social security number or personal identification to open an account under your name.
This can have a grave effect on your credit score. However, you don’t have to worry about this. New lenders are not going to reject or decline credit applications just because there are hard inquiries on the report. It doesn’t work that way.
Is it worth waiting for hard inquiries to fall off?
Hard inquiries usually take two years to automatically fall off from a report. As such, there’s nothing serious about them so long as you don’t get too many new ones for two years. That means desisting from new credit applications for the said period. Meanwhile, you can continue working on your score to improve it.
But if you can’t wait, you can seek assistance from reputable credit repair firms to remove the hard inquiries.
We recommend you work with Los Angeles credit repair companies if you reside in California. Likewise, San Diego credit repair companies are also experienced in hard inquiries removal. Nevadans seeking assistance with their hard inquiry removal process can get help from renowned Las Vegas credit repair agencies. 007 Credit Agent is one such experienced credit repair agency serving Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and all US credit consumers to boost their credit profiles.
Conclusion
It’s possible to dispute hard inquiries and get them removed from your report. But bear in mind that legit hard inquiries are difficult to expunge from your credit report. In such a case, it’s worth working with credit repair experts to help you get it done right.
Even after removing hard inquiries, you should keep tabs with your credit score and report. It’s always advisable to do a credit score check once every quarter and the report at least once every year. Monitor your credit status to identify issues as soon as they happen to make it easier to resolve them. Contact 007 Credit Agent to sort out your credit report and score queries so you can enjoy financial freedom.