how to get hard inquiries removed from your credit report
For whatever reason, the credit provider of your credit application—including credit cards, auto loans, mortgages among others—is probably going to review your credit report. This results in a hard inquiry on your credit record, hence you should be vigilant when asking for credit. Like other kinds of questions, hard inquiries might reduce a credit score, particularly in cases where there are lots of them within a short time.
In some cases, hard inquiries can be removed from your credit report after two years, but it would be best to try and get them removed earlier to reduce the impact it has on your credit score. Below are some guidelines that could be of help when it comes to the process of removing hard inquiries:
1. Submit a Dispute Letter
The first step to try to get hard inquiries removed is to send a direct dispute letter to the reporting credit bureaus: Some of the credit bureaus include Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
In your dispute letter, include: In your dispute letter, include:
- Identification information that refers to you It is a very sensitive aspect of your identity that includes your full name, your current address, and your social security number.
- The hard inquiries you want removed: This section entails the names of the lenders followed by the dates of the hard inquiries.
- Purpose for appealing the inquiries - For instance, you did not approve the inquiry; it was conducted fraudulently; or you had an invalid inquiry.
- Demand that all the inquiries be deleted
In case you have to dispute a reason, do not forget to attach copies of documents that support your reason such as fraud or identity theft reports.
To provide a dispute letter, you will usually have to send a separate letter with supporting documents to the credit bureaus. Enclose your letter in an envelope and post it through the post office, make sure that it was sent through certified mail with a return receipt requested this is to ensure that the organization receives your letter and the postal office can testify that you sent the letter with a particular dispute. They then have thirty days to investigate your dispute. This process may take 60 days upon sending your initial letter to your insurance company.
2. Contact the Lender Directly
Try communicating with the lender that made the hard inquiry after the credit bureau dispute has not been effective. Encourage them to delete the inquiry from your credit report, always attaching copies of the documents to back your cause. As mentioned in Section 2, common grounds for disputing inquiries are when they were made without authorization, if filled fraudulently, or if the inquiry is not admissible.
It is the responsibility of the lender to give a self-removal option for their inquiry, which will warrant its removal from your credit report. If they do not agree and you still feel that there are justifiable reasons why you should be removed, then you can proceed to further dispute resolution.
3. To appeal to the credit bureaus, you need to file an appeal with them.
If the initial dispute leads to the hard inquiry being confirmed and the record remains in your credit report, then you can exercise the right to appeal.
Just copy the dispute process as mentioned in Step 1, and do not forget to emphasize that the letter is an appeal of a previously checked dispute. The credit bureau will review your appeal if you want the credit bureau to reopen it.
That is why when completing an appeal form, make sure that you attach all new evidence or documentation in support of the appeal. In addition to the above tips, the extra information could be useful to get the hard inquiry removed on appeal even if the initial dispute was not successful.
4. Submit a CFPB Complaint
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) helps to resolve individual complaints against banks and other financial institutions, payday lenders, debt collectors, and credit bureaus. If all else fails, one may report the matter to the CFPB for hard credit inquiries as a last resort.
While completing the CFPB online complaint form or the CFPB complaint by mail form, be sure to include when the attempt to dispute the inquiry was made, with whom the individual was communicating, and the responses of the communication, plus any attachments. Finally, the CFPB will forward your complaint to the relevant firm, and the company shall respond to you in writing within 15 to 60 days of receiving your complaint.
The CFPB shall assist in the resolution of your complaint free of charge to the consumer. While disputing the information with the CRAs, there is a possibility that they remove negative inquiries if the CFPB complaint process is completed regardless of previous attempts.
Avoid Future Issues
While working to remove current hard inquiries from your credit report, also consider these two proactive steps to prevent problems going forward: While working to remove current hard inquiries from your credit report, also consider these two proactive steps to prevent problems going forward:
1. Opt out of pre-approved credit offers: There are limitations of prescreened offers of credit for five years or permanently where you can opt out, thus minimizing inquiries. Credit reporting companies or go to www.optoutprescreen.com to make a request.
2. Freeze your credit reports: A security freeze locks down your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports means that credit reporting agencies do not release your credit report to lenders unless you thaw it. This avoids any inquiries in the first place ensuring you have access to your existing credit cards/loan facilities. The freezings of credit reports are not absolute and there are exemptions such as credit application, insurance, employment, or renting a house that will need the freeze to be lifted for some time. But it is one of the ways of avoiding hard credit checks which are often used by lenders when considering loan applications.
Eradicating errors or avoiding a hard inquiry when it has not benefited you in any way preserves credit standing in the long run. After the dispute process, be consistent, attach proof, and if needed go to agencies like the CFPB to eliminate those unnecessary hard inquiries on your credit report. However, if you apply some effort, it is possible to send the deletion request and begin pursuing other credit objectives.
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