What's the deal with Capital One and the "Soft Pulls"?

I have a client who's had a problem with "soft pulls" by Capital One showing up regularly on some of his credit reports.  That's great, you say, but "what's a soft pull?"  A soft pull is a credit report inquiry by a third party that doesn't show up when other people pull your credit report, and it isn't reflected in your credit score.  What's the big deal then? you might ask.  Well, regardless of whether it shows up when potential creditors evaluate you for credit, each time there is a soft pull, it means somebody saw some of your credit data. 

There are two primary types of "soft pulls" . The first is an account review inquiry. This is done by a credtior with whom you already have an account, just keeping tabs on your general financial health.  It's pretty much allowed period as long as you actually have an account with the company. If you don't have an account with the company, they shouldn't be doing account reviews.  The other type is trickier. It is the "PRM" or "promotional inquiry".  A promotional inquiry shows on your credit report when the credit bureau sells a targeted list to a prospective creditor based on defined characteristics chosen by the company that wants to sell you credit. The prospective creditor does not get your full information; rather, the creditor simply gets a ping that you are in the group they are looking for.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows these inquiries, but only when, in exchange for the information, the prospective creditor agrees to make you a "firm offer of credit."  The catch with Capital One seems to be how often they are doing it, and whether they are really making firm offers in connection with all of the inquiries.  One thing I found out in my web research, that people have been complaining about the quantity of Capital one promotional inquiries for at least a decade.  Here's a link to an articles at consumeraffairs.org talking about Capital One's promotional inquiries back in 2006. 

If you find out that Capital One has been making a number of promotional inquiries on your credit report that do not correspond with firm offers of credit that you received, please call my office at 317-662-4529. I'd love to hear from you. You can also send me an email inquiry through my website at www.hoferlawindy.com. 

Are You Getting Promotional Inquiries on your Credit Report from Capital One Bank?

Most people know that every time a potential creditor pulls your credit report in connection with an application for credit, your credit score is slightly affected.  This type of inquiry is known in the trade as a "hard pull".  There is a second kind of credit report access called a "soft inquiry" or "soft pull." These inquiries are properly for the purpose of a firm offer of credit (a promotional inquiry), an account review of an existing account or for the collection of an existing account, or for the consumer's own use. Sometimes a soft pull is appropriate for confirming the identity of a person.

Because they aren't part of your credit score, soft pulls are not thought of as being as damaging as hard pulls - but that might not always be true. In fact, for privacy purposes, the soft pulls may be even more damaging because they are not tracked as closely.  You might not even know who had access to your credit file.

Right now I am looking into whether Capital One Bank has been accessing a large number of consumer credit files on a  large number of occasions without making a  corresponding firm offer of credit in exchange for the information.

The next time you check your credit report (available for free one time a year from www.annualcreditreport.com), pay attention to the sections marked "Promotional inquiries" and "Account Review Inquiries".  The promotional inquiries should generally not have the same companies getting your report on many occasions.  The account review inquiries should relate to companies that you have actually done business with or with third party debt collectors who are currently servicing one of your accounts or who did so in the past.  If you don't remember receiving any offers of credit, or if a creditor listed under an account inquiry is unfamiliar to you, you can write that company, give them your name, address and partial social security number (partial only), and ask them to tell you the reason they accessed your credit each time.  Ask them to identify the account they claim to be servicing; and ask them to explain to you what firm offers of credit they made and when.  If they can't answer these questions to your satisfaction,  you should talk to an experienced consumer lawyer in your area. You can find one through the National Association of Consumer Advocates' "find an attorney"  page linked here.http://www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney