This is a commonly asked question: just in …
How to remove inquiries from a credit report
Question: I have been using freecreditreport.com and it tells me that my score is 595 right now. One of the reasons it is so low is that I have 8 hard inquires listed. Those eight inquiries were from when I tried to refinance my car. I thought that if you apply for refinancing and several financing companies do an inquiry within a couple of days that it shows up as one inquiry rather than 8 separate inquiries. Is that true and if so can it be fixed on my report?
Freecreditreport.com has a tool that shows me that if I only had o1-2 inquires my credit is estimated to be 643 which is where I want to be. I only tried to refinance my car once but several companies did an inquiry for the financing and found that the value of the vehicle was to low. I would like to get that reduced to one inquiry if possible.
Answer: We don’t try to remove inquiries. Reason, they are very difficult to remove. Because you have to prove the inquiries weren’t authorized. Usually the website that you applied on has fine print that says you did authorize the credit reports.
FYI, The older the inquiries get, the less they affect the score.
We don’t get involved with disputing inquiries.
Question #2: I only applied to the lenders because I thought the following is how it worked:
2. Limit your loan shopping to a two-week period. Every time you apply for a loan — whether you are approved, whether you use it — your credit scores go down, making it slightly more difficult to get a prime-rate loan. But if you make all of your applications within two weeks, they count as only one inquiry.
Is that not the case with credit reporting of auto refinance loans?
Here is the link to the article.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/10-steps-to-the-best-car-loan.aspx
Do you know if there is there a way I can prove that the inquiries were all related to one vehicle refinance request?
Keep in mind that the score estimator at Freecreditreport.com is an estimator. It isn’t exact and many times it is off by 20-30 points.
You can call the bureaus and dispute by phone. Or you can dispute with the creditors directly with a letter similar to below:
Your letter can go something like this: [include your contact info, so they can respond, include the inquiry statement in your letter]
——-letter start ———
Re: Unauthorized Credit Inquiry Dear American Express,
I recently received a copy of my Experian credit report. The credit report showed a credit inquiry by your company that I do not recall authorizing. I understand that you shouldn’t be allowed to put an inquiry on my file unless I have authorized it. Please have this inquiry removed from my credit file because it is making it very difficult for me to acquire credit.
I have sent this letter certified mail because I need your prompt response to this issue. Please be so kind as to forward me documentation that you have had the unauthorized inquiry removed. If you find that I am remiss, and you did have my authorization to inquire into my credit report, then please send me proof of this.
Thanking you in advance,
——-letter end ———
Disputing inquiries is a time consuming process with a low success rate. That is why we don’t dispute them. Remember the older they get the less they affect your scores.
Hope this helps.