can you remove hard inquiries?

[sobroke]

I noticed on my cr that several companies are checking my credit. These are causing hard inquiries (which hurt your credit) I have not given permission or signed anything that would cause these people to do this. One inquiry is from a lender we had 6 years ago. That loan has been paid off now for about 5 years. My question.....Is there any way to dispute hard inquiries on my CR? This is one of the main things bringing my score down.

[StaciMM]

2 thoughts-you can dispute them, but I'm not sure the process or how much work is involved, nor do I know anything about the chances of success.

Beyond that, I believe inquiries only impact score for 6 months, even though they show for 2 years. If you're not needing anything major for a while, it shouldn't hurt you.

[sobroke]

Thanks StaciMM. I didn't know that it only hurts credit for 6 months. So what happens after that 6 months? Does your Credit score go up a little?

[StaciMM]

My understanding that whatever you lose from the inquiry 'wears off' after 6 months. Time is very important w/ FICO. As time progresses, old 'late payments' cause less damage. Age of accounts is also important, and sometimes getting rid of an old bad account can actually hurt. (If the date of the negative info is old then the negative doesn't really hurt, so if its the only old account on your report and it goes away, the entire age of your profile drops.)

FICO is an odd thing-no one can explain it fully but there are bits & pieces to understand.

Thanks StaciMM. I didn't know that it only hurts credit for 6 months. So what happens after that 6 months? Does your Credit score go up a little?

[tinroofrusted]

You can get a $1000.00 settlement from any company that pulls your credit without your permission. With that, they are also required by law to remove the inquiry, if they can not find permission from you, the creditor.

[AAAArt]

You can (and in my opinion)dispute it. Contact both the creditor and CRA's.
Staci is definitely correct re: time. It is the only thing that truly heals.
However, there is a seldom given thought to item. If you invest in a stock at $100 and it goes down 50%, how much does it have to go up to get back to it's original value??? 50%...no, at that time it would only be worth $75. It has to increase 100% to recover to it's initial value, so IMHO, it is better to get them disputed now and removed, to keep that score from going down in the first place. Just my $.02
TinRoof is also correct that there might be financial recompense due to you, but I thinnk yoou have to prove that it was intentional, not an accident, however if they refuse to remove these "hard inquiries" or prove that they were caused by something you did, I would get a good book on credit repair and follow the steps involved to get it removed and get paid for your trouble. Art

[HRx]

Keep in mind that whenever you apply for credit, you may in fact be agreeing to allow the primary creditor to allow thier affiliated partners to review your credit report too, as a way of offering you credit, if they cannot approve you for credit.

Good Luck!

[sobroke]

This particular creditor pulled my CR on 10/06/05. It is someone I have never heard of. After looking at my CR, my husband had a loan with them back in 1994. I would not think that they still have permission after 11 years to pull my credit. Should I first send a letter to the CRA or the creditor? I don't even have the name or address of this creditor. It is abbreviated FWA FORT. I will investigate and keep you posted. Thanks for the info!

[HRx]

Multiple inquiries can definatley affect your credit score negatively........so get all the erroneous inquiries removed. But keep in mind that removing derogatory remarks on your credit reports, are what you should place more focus on.......

Good Luck!