My school gave multiple lenders authorization to run my credit. Can they do that?

[Kain]

Greetings. I had just received a letter from a financial company that I had sent a credit inquiry dispute and the letter stated that a school I attended submitted my information to multiple lending agencies.

I personally didn’t know and I was wondering can they do that without my signature or authorization? What route should I go with this because I never knew nor did I authorize these multiple agencies to run my credit? How can I dispute this?

[Tracy Winters]

I’m pretty much sure it’s NOT your school?

Are you sure it’s your school that gave your information to lending agencies? I find it hard to believe.

First – your school is not allowed to give or sell your information.
Second – lenders and creditors rarely do business with schools.
Third – your school has no reason to have your credit information in the first place.

Lenders and creditors BUY credit information from the 3 major credit bureaus for purpose of pre-screening and solicitation of credit offers, just like the one you’ve received.

It probably says you’ve been pre-approved or pre-selected, right?

The credit bureaus are allowed to sell your credit information to anyone that has “permissible purposes ” for buying them, which pretty much means all lenders and creditors (See Who has access to my credit report.

Although these credit inquiries do appear on your credit report, they DONOT count in your FICO score. Only credit inquiries initiated by you (such as when when YOU apply for credit) go into your FICO score.

Nevertheless, you have a right to request the 3 major credit bureaus to exclude your name, address or telephone number information from lists for pre-approved, unsolicited credit and insurance offers by calling 1-888-5-OPT OUT (1–888–567–8688). See FCRA for a summary of your rights.

[Author]

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