If you’ve recently received copies of your credit report, you may have noticed an ‘Inquiries’ section towards the bottom of the report.
In most cases, this section has minimal impact on your credit score. But the way you manage your credit, particularly the way you apply for credit, can end up making a big difference if not facilitated correctly.
Learning about credit inquiries can also help you spot any potential credit fraud. For example, if you have hard inquiries on your credit report that you’re sure you didn’t make, it could be a sign of identity theft.
Read on to find out everything you need to know about what credit inquiries are, how they affect you, and how to get rid of them.
A credit inquiry removal letter is used to dispute an unauthorized inquiry. It is sent to the credit bureaus to request that a credit inquiry be removed. After receiving your letter, the credit bureaus are obligated to investigate your claim with the creditor who placed the hard inquiry on your credit report.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the information provider has 30 days to report back to the credit bureau with proof that you authorized the credit inquiry. If they fail to respond or provide proof, the credit inquiry must be removed from your credit report.
Credit inquiries don’t have a major impact on your credit score. However, if you have too many in a short period of time, they can definitely damage your credit history. That’s why it’s important to have unauthorized credit inquiries removed from your credit report.
Sometimes companies and individuals make hard inquiries that you did not authorize. In those cases, there is a way to remove the hard inquiry and improve your credit scores as a result. It’s called a “credit inquiry removal letter” or a “credit inquiry dispute letter.”
You can dispute a hard credit inquiry even if it’s “questionable” and you’re uncertain whether you made it or not. The burden of proof is on the credit reporting agency and your creditor.
We have prepared a sample letter to send to the credit bureaus requesting an investigation of an unauthorized inquiry appearing on your credit report.
Be sure to send via certified mail rather than standard mail delivery to get a faster response and ensure your letter is received.
Try to make the letter appear more personal than this form letter, but make sure to use your own words. Remember, this is just an example. Your letter should look similar to this:
