Introduction

Credit inquiries can have a significant impact on your credit score, especially if they are inaccurate. While credit repair companies promise to help you remove negative information from your credit report, you can actually dispute inaccurate inquiries yourself for free. In this article, we will guide you through the process of disputing inaccurate credit inquiries and explain why you don’t need to pay for credit repair services.

How Do Credit Repair Companies Work?

Credit repair companies charge fees based on the promise that they can help you remove negative information from your credit report. These fees are often in the form of monthly subscriptions or per item removed. However, credit repair companies use the same dispute process that you have the right to use. They cannot legally remove accurate information from your credit report.

Credit repair companies are regulated by the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), which requires them to provide a written contract specifying their services and charges. The CROA also forbids them from collecting payment until they fulfill the contract and allows you to cancel the deal within three business days without incurring charges.

How to Dispute Inaccurate Inquiries Yourself

Disputing inaccurate hard inquiries is a straightforward process that you can do on your own. Here are the steps:

1. Get Copies of Your Credit Reports

Regularly review your credit reports from all three national credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax). You can get a free copy of each report once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com.

2. Locate and Review Hard Inquiries

Each credit bureau organizes its credit report differently, but all include a section for inquiries. Hard inquiries, which can affect your credit scores, are listed separately from soft inquiries, which do not affect your scores. Check all hard inquiries to ensure you recognize them. Note that lender names may be abbreviated or listed under a parent company.

3. Dispute Any Inaccurate Inquiries

If you find an inquiry you don’t recognize, you have the right to dispute it with the credit bureau that reported it. Each bureau has its own procedures for processing disputes:

• Experian: Use the Experian Dispute Center for online disputes, call 888-EXPERIAN, or mail your dispute to P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013.
• Equifax: Follow the dispute process on the Equifax website.
• TransUnion: Follow the dispute process on the TransUnion website.

4. If Appropriate, Take Steps to Block Fraud

Unexplained hard inquiries can indicate potential fraud. Contact the lender that made the inquiry, report the activity to law enforcement agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and consider adding a fraud alert or security freeze to your credit file.

5. Keep Watching for Unusual Activity

If you suspect fraud, monitor your credit reports frequently for additional suspicious behavior. Consider using a credit monitoring service to alert you to new activity on your credit reports.

How Disputing Inquiries Impacts Your Credit

Filing a dispute does not affect your credit score on its own, but the removal of a disputed hard inquiry could result in a small score increase. Hard inquiries have no impact on your credit scores after one year and are removed from your credit reports after two years.

The Bottom Line

If you discover a hard inquiry that doesn’t belong on your credit report, there’s no need to hire a credit repair company. You can dispute it for free and take steps to protect yourself from potential fraud. For any mortgage service needs, contact O1ne Mortgage at 213-732-3074. Our team of experts is here to help you navigate the mortgage process with ease.