Car Dealership Pulled My Credit Without My Consent

It happens all the time and is not illegal and will not have an effect on your credit report.

DD

 

^^

I thought anytime someone runs your credit, it can have an effect on your credit score?

 

I don't know if "anytime" is correct, but when you may be applying for a loan I believe this is true. So in this case, it most likely could affect his credit score.

 

any run on your credit report from a retailer will affect your credit report.

 

what he said. it doesn't affect your score a lot, but it will lower it.

OP-

I would call that dealership and yell...

 

Not true,

Credit card companies, banks and others routinely run your credit score and it has no effect at all.

The reason I know this, is that I recently put an alert on my credit report just to make sure no one was trying to steal my identity etc....and when you do this you get a free look at your report....

There were lots of CC companies running my report pretty much every month on their own.....to offer my credit cards......which I would never accept.....

The reporting agencies know this and it has a different standing than when you are applying for a credit card or loan....so no effect on your score.

DD

 

i'm not disagreeing with you DaDakota because i won't claim to know exactly, but let's jus make sure everyone is on the same page. when people say it affects your score, it affects your actual score, not how someone looks at your score.

 

It has no effect on your score at all.....

There is a different setting when your credit is checked without you applying, it doesn't do a thing to the report.

What changes it are the checks to your report in which you are applying for a loan or card directly....

I just had the conversation on Friday with someone at Experion about this very thing.

DD

 

One of the questions used when determining a credit score is:

How many loans or credit cards have you applied for in the last year?

I assume the lower the number the less impact on your score. In and of itself, this one particular instance probably did not impact his score, however, it COULD become a variable that does impact his score at some point.

The OP has every right to be upset that his credit report was run without his consent. That being said, Churck 4, did you sign anything prior to taking the test drive? There may have been some fine print indicating they might run a report.

 

I've had it recommended to me to come to dealerships with your license photcopied. Write on the sheet "YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO RUN MY CREDIT" before handing it to the dealer prior to test-driving. Naturally, ask for the sheet back afterwords.

 

did u give them your SS #?

 

It can. People do check these things to see if there are bad reports against a business. I'd do it.

 

When you are getting prescreened for a credit card, its considered a soft pull and will not affect your credit. But, whenever you fill out a credit application anywhere, the credit check will affect your credit score.

hard pull vs soft pull

 

They shouldnt have pulled your credit...

I worked at a car dealership for about 3 years. As long as you purchase a car within a 14-21 day window of your first credit pull, you can pull as many times as you want and it will not effect your credit.

 

I was not aware that you could pull credit without a SS#.