Stopping needless accessing of your credit report?

Yes! Go to annualcreditreport.com and obtain your reports from all three bureaus (free once per year or anytime you are denied credit). This will lead you to the website for each bureau. At each website, there is an option to "opt out" of prescreened credit offers. This will take up to 6 weeks to take effect (much like the do not call list does), but once it does, you will see the prescreened offers stop.

I did this for my parents, who are very "old school" and don't like receiving credit offers in the mail - it makes them nervous to know that someone is accessing their credit report, even if it's only for prescreened offer. They're much happpier now that the offers aren't coming in the mail.

Your credit really should not be pulled at all without your permission.

Even in a "prescreened" situation - they have not actually looked at your credit report. Mostly these places buy lists from the credit bureaus of people who meet certain criteria. Their name shows up just as a promotional inquiry because the bureau included your name in a list it sold to that creditor.

Soft inquiries can be stopped by calling 1-888-OPT-OUT5. This will keep the bureaus from selling off your name. (Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score).

Any hard inquiries you did not authorize bear legal ramifications -- it is illegal to pull a hard inquiry on someone without their permission. (Collections don't count because you gave implied consent when you entered into a credit transaction). If any of the inquiries you see are hard ones, then you should find out why that company made the inquiry and, if you didn't authorize it, then demand it be removed.

Thank you very much, both, for your information. I'm not so much bothered by the pre-screened offers ( just a bunch of junk mail ) because they are as you said, "soft". But the last 2 inquiries, including the one that came through earlier today was a "hard" one from a company I don't know. I looked them up and found a website for them, and they advertise some kind of credit services or something on them.

I do NOT want random inquiries like this to continue, and I would like to remove the last couple that occured. Should I contact the companies who did made the pulls first and say something to them, or should I just go straight to the bureau it was pulled from?

The bureaus usually will not just "take your word for it". I have a hunch that if you called the bureaus, they would tell you that whoever pulled the inquiry needs to remove it.

There are some letters here in the DIY section ( http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/letters/ ) that you can use to demand those places remove their inquiry. But I would call up and give them an earful first -- how did they get your information and who authorized them to pull your credit?

To effectively cease hard pulls,you can freeze each bureau if your state allows it. Now Debtcruncher is most correct about legal issues with unauthorized inquiries. If they don't have a valid reason to pull,that could be a thousand dollar check in your pocket. Note that with a freeze in place,your current creditors can still access reports.

Credit Agency Address

Date:

To whom it may concern:
I request to have my name removed from your marketing lists. Here is the information you have asked me to include in my request:

FIRST, MIDDLE & LAST NAME:
CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS:

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:___________________
DATE OF BIRTH:____________________

Thank you for your prompt handling of my request,
____________________________
Signature of


Send to Three Major Credit Reporting Agency Addresses Below:

Equifax Options
PO Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123

Experian Consumer Opt-Out
701 Experian Parkway
Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion LLC's Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS 39288-7328

For Removal From Marketing Lists or Telemarketing:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P. O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008

Telephone Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014

Sample Opt Out Letter:

Company address
Date:
Please register my name with the (Telephone Preference Service or Mail Preference Service)
Name:
Address:
Phone:
Thank You For Your Help
Sign