Remove and Keep Credit Inquiry Off Hard Inquires
Any time you apply for credit, whether it’s for a personal loan, a car loan, a mortgage, or anything else – someone is checking your credit report. And more often than not, this is in the form of a hard inquiry. These inquiries show up on your credit report for 2 years, and they will directly lower your credit score. Even worse, having too many inquiries within a six month period will result in you getting denied on applications for loans and credit cards, etc. Usually anything over six or more hard inquiries within a single six month period will result in you being denied for credit.
Just how much are hard inquiries affecting my credit score?
The entities that perform the credit inquiry (auto dealer, bank, employer, etc.) have you sign an application, which includes your consent to have your credit pulled (a hard inquiry). Each one of these inquiries can take off anywhere from 3 to 7 points off your credit score, which can add up. For example, if you have 10 inquiries within the last two years, you are potentially losing out on 70 points from your credit score! Just imagine, if you had all of these inquiries removed then your score would skyrocket up by 70 points and you would suddenly get approved for loans and credit application that you were previously getting denied for. Even better, if you don’t have any derogatory items such as collections or bankruptcies, then you will get approved by virtually any online automatic application processors.
Is it really possible to get hard inquiries removed?
YES! Most people don’t know this, but most companies don’t actually need your consent to pull your credit. However, they are SUPPOSED to have your consent, and if they don’t – then they are violating a federal law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). As such, if a company has pulled your credit and does not have your consent, then the big three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) must, by law, remove those inquiries from your credit report. The FCRA (federal law) says that as a consumer, you are legally allowed to challenge the validity and accuracy of these hard inquiries. And when you challenge these inquiries, it’s called opening a dispute. The company pulling your credit must provide documented proof, for example a document with your signature on it, that you authorized and provided consent for the hard inquiry. If they fail to provide this documentation, then TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax must remove these inquiries from your credit report.
