There are 2 types of inquires on your credit
report, hard and soft. Soft inquiries don’t lower your credit
score, hard inquiries will lower your credit score.
Hard inquiries can remain on your credit report
for up to 2 years, but Fair Isaac only counts hard inquiries for 2
years.
Debt collectors are the main source of
unauthorized hard inquiries. Credit bureaus allow this, as they set up
the subscriber accounts to inflict maximum damage. Remember, the credit
system was not designed to benefit the general public, its designed to
keep a portion of the general public in sub prime status.
That’s quite a statement, but think
about this, collection accounts can be passed around and assigned for
decades. Why else are debt collectors allowed to place in your credit
report?
Keep this in mind, supposedly, only people who you
apply for credit with are allowed to submit a hard inquiry. Did you
ever apply for credit with any bill collector? No! what is shocking is
that the fair credit reporting act actually allows collection agencies
to perform a hard inquiry on your credit report. A hard inquiry can
lower your credit score as much as 35 points!
If an inquiry was submitted without a permissible
purpose, you can ask for and collect up to $1,000($2,500 in
California). Now, here is where you can have some fun. If you find an
unfamiliar inquiry on your report, contact the creditor in writing and
ask them for their permissible purpose. Write something like this
“As per my Trans Union credit report, I am not aware of
applying for credit with your company on (date). What was your
permissible purpose?” when they write back, write them back
again and ask for financial damages. If they don’t, let them
know that you intend to file a complain with the state agency that gave
them their license .