Your Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion file can pick up a hard pull from a lender you never applied to, and that listing can shave points off a score. Can you get that inquiry off your report?
You file a dispute. Federal credit-reporting rules let you challenge items that are inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable, and each bureau that still shows the pull needs its own filing. Identity theft has a separate block process.
An unauthorized inquiry is a check of your U.S. credit file that you didn't request, didn't consent to, and often didn't know happened.
Thing is, a name you don't recognize can still be allowed. A bank that already has your account, an insurer, or a landlord doing a screening can have a permissible purpose even if the company looks random.
Hard pulls, soft pulls, and score damage
Hard inquiries usually appear after you apply for new credit, and they can lower a score for a time while sitting on the report for about two years.
Soft inquiries are a different category. Your own report checks and many pre-approvals sit here, along with some account reviews, and they generally don't affect scoring.
| Kind | How long it usually stays | Score impact | What tends to help |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard inquiry | About 2 years | Can lower a score | Proof you didn't apply, or an identity-theft report |
| Soft inquiry | Often 1-2 years | Usually none | A clear explanation that the pull isn't yours |
Leave a soft inquiry alone if you're only hunting points, because it probably isn't costing you any.
Document a cluster of hard pulls you didn't start. That pattern is a different problem.
Get the three reports first
You'll want all three files before you argue with anyone, so order Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion at AnnualCreditReport.com, the federally authorized site, and save the PDFs.
Circle every inquiry you didn't start.
Write down the company name, the date, and the hard or soft label as you go. One bureau's file is not the whole picture. The same pull can show on Equifax and vanish on Experian.
File a dispute with each bureau that shows the pull
Each bureau needs its own dispute, and online is often quicker than the other routes. Mail is stronger when you have paperwork.
A phone call works if you accept a thinner paper trail.
Work through this sequence:
- Copy the inquiry exactly as it appears, including the company name, date, and hard or soft label.
- Gather copies of your ID, address proof, and anything showing you never applied.
- Submit the dispute in the bureau portal, or mail a letter that identifies the inquiry and states you did not authorize it.
- Save confirmation numbers, and for mail use certified mail so you keep a receipt.
- Watch the clock. Investigations usually run 30 days and can stretch to 45 days if you send more material while a review is open.
Experian publishes instructions for disputing by mail. They ask you to describe the error and include identifying details. Send copies of documents, not originals.
Published mailing addresses have included P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013 and P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016. Use the address on your report or the current form.
Equifax and TransUnion each have their own portals and mail addresses, which sounds obvious until you grab an old printout and ship a packet to the wrong box, so pull the address from your report or their dispute pages.
You can send a plain letter like this. It's a sample, not legal advice.
[Your name]
[Address]
[Date]
[Bureau name and mailing address]
Re: Dispute of inquiry dated [date] from [company name]
I dispute the inquiry listed above. I did not apply for credit with this company and I did not authorize a pull of my credit file. Please investigate and delete the inquiry if it cannot be verified.
Enclosed are a copy of my government ID, proof of address, and the report page that shows the inquiry.
[Signature]
[Last four digits of SSN]
[Phone]Keep the tone specific. Angry threats don't help.
If the pull looks like identity theft
Don't start with a regular dispute if someone opened credit in your name; start at IdentityTheft.gov instead.
You'll get an identity theft report and a recovery checklist. Add a fraud alert if you haven't.
Turns out a block request is a different tool from a regular dispute, and 15 U.S. Code Section 1681c-2 requires bureaus to block information that resulted from identity theft when the consumer identifies that information and provides the required report and statement.
Follow each bureau's fraud steps. Keep copies of everything you send.
Reach for the block path when you have an identity theft report, and use an ordinary dispute for a possible dealer error or a pull you simply didn't authorize.
After the bureau answers
The inquiry doesn't have to come off. If the company that pulled your file verifies a permissible purpose, the listing can stay, and the bureau should delete it when they can't verify it.
A legitimate dispute is not supposed to drop your score, though the hard inquiry might already have. Removing a bad hard pull can help later. Soft pulls usually weren't scoring you.
If the result looks wrong, send more documents or add a short statement to your file, and you can also complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Private lawsuits exist under the FCRA, but that's a conversation with a lawyer, not a weekend project.
Paid repair firms mostly mail the same letters you can send and charge monthly, so try the free bureau process first.
Proof that actually moves a dispute
The bureau is really just checking whether the lender that pulled your file had a reason to do it, so a bare "please delete" with no backup often comes back as verified, which is frustrating when you know you never walked into that store or clicked that apply button and then you end up repeating the same facts in a second letter.
Bring the report page, your ID, evidence you have no account there, a dealer form you never signed, an FTC identity theft report, and a letter from the company if they admit the mistake.
Call or write the inquiring company too, and ask them to request deletion. Some will send a letter you can attach.
Inquiries older than two years usually drop off without a fight, but dispute them anyway if they're still listed and wrong.
To be honest, the next useful move is boring. Download all three reports, mark every pull you didn't start, and file one documented dispute this week. Put a 30-day reminder on your calendar so the result doesn't sit unopened.