Soft Inquiries

• Despite the personal information contained in your credit report, it can be pulled without your permission. The Fair Credit Report Act allows businesses to pull reports without consent if the company has a legitimate business reason to do so. Companies often perform what is referred to as "soft" credit inquiries. These allow companies to see certain information about you, but do not appear on your credit report. For example, your credit card issuer may pull a copy of your credit report and adjust your interest rate or credit limit based on the report. Other creditors may pull your report without your knowledge to determine whether to extend an offer of credit. You can opt out from these offers, and therefore limit the access to your credit report. Collection agencies, when they are attempting to collect a debt, and insurance underwriters can also access your report without express permission, as that falls within the scope of permissible purpose.
  
  

Hard Inquiries

• In general, if you apply for credit and the decision hinges upon the information contained in your credit report, you need to give the creditor permission to access your report. When you apply for credit, it appears as a hard inquiry on your credit report and affects your score. Carefully read any applications to know your rights and how the company will use your credit report.
  
  

Employment

• When you apply for a job, the rules regarding credit reports are slightly different. The Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies that when a credit report is used as part of a hiring decision, then the employer must obtain your permission before pulling the report and keep it on file. In addition, an employer that does not hire you due to the information in the report must provide the name and address of the company that supplied the report, tell you that the credit report company supplied the information used to make the decision and did not make the decision, and tell you that you can dispute the accuracy of information in the report.
  
  

Monitor Your Report

• If you discover that someone has accessed your credit illegally, you can dispute the information with the credit bureaus and take legal action if the inquiry affects your credit score. The credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate the claim and adjust your credit report. To avoid unexpected hard inquiries, carefully read any contracts and applications, and take care to only provide your Social Security number to companies that you are certain you want to do business with. Beware that some businesses, such as car dealerships, may be able to pull your credit report using only your driver's license number and it may be considered a legitimate business purpose. If you do not authorize the dealership to pull your credit, tell the salesperson beforehand and ask to have a notation made on any driver's license photocopy.