CA's pulling your credit report

Toni,

We had a similar discussion in forums few days back. The matter that came up from that talk is that collection agencies pull credit report to check, if the consumer has the ability to pay the debt or not. Some debtors often state their inability to make payment, but their credit report says something else.

http://forums.debtcc.com/forums/caviewing-report.html

However, you have one valid point here. Since we have not authorized them to do so and we do not know them, they cannot pull our credit file. You can send the collection agency a letter to remove the inquiry from your report.

As per the credit scoring models, the inquiries done without your authorization will not affect your score, but it might have a negative impact on your future creditors, I think. Any suggestion from others at this point?

I think I will call the Attorney General's office when they open tomorrow and find out if this can be done. I did find out one thing that is a big relief...in the state of Texas (where I live), wages can only be garnished for student loans, or anything federal, like taxes, etc. Credit card companies cannot garnish wages and "take your home" like they threaten me every day. So, now I know that next time they tell me they are going to garnish my wages, I can file a suit against them for making threats they cannot carry out, right?

You are right about wage garnishment laws. Most of the states support wage garnishment without any court order for debts to federal government only, like student loan, tax etc.

However, private lenders can only garnish your wage if they win a judgment against you and court issues an order to pay a portion of your wage to your creditor. But this is a long process and most of the creditor will not follow it unless the debt amount is quite high.

Actually according to the website, this is what Texas has to say about wage garnishment (this is from the Texas Attorney General website):

Your Home and Wages are Protected

Some collectors will threaten to foreclose on homesteads or to garnish wages. In Texas, a homestead cannot be taken to pay a debt except for debts taken for the purchase of the home, for home improvements, for home equity loans or to pay certain taxes. Wages may be garnished to pay court-ordered child support, back taxes, and defaulted student loans.

Correct me if I interpreted that wrong. But, it looks like they will not allow court-ordered garnishment of wages unless they are one of the above mentioned debts. I will clarify that with them too.

Texas laws might have some specific clauses. Yes it appears from the paragraph you mentioned above that wage garnishment is not enforceable unless the debt belongs to any category mentioned above. However, it will be better if you confirm it from a law practitioner. Keep us posted :D