Bank of America pulls report and does another decrease...

I posted about a month ago that BofA cut my limit from 43,200.00 to 21,600.00. I had about a 20k balance so I transferred that over to a card with 0%. Now yesterday I find out without any notice or permission they pulled my credit report and lowered that same card to $500.00. The lady I spoke to about a month ago from BofA told me shes seeing most cards go from 20-40k to $500.00 so I wasn't completely surprised. But what I was surprised about was the fact that they pulled my report.

So my question is, do I have any grounds for which I can dispute that inquiry? I don't know all the rules/laws on that and whether that when I signed up with them in 2003 that I had given them permission to pull it at any time? Any input is appreciated...

Was it a hard pull (inquiry) or soft pull? Most creditors will do periodic soft pulls to review a customer's credit history, and they can do that at any time and do not need permission if you are already a customer ...

Industry standard is to do soft inquiries for account review but there is nothing which requires them to claassify as hard or soft

You dance with the devil...your gonna get burned son. Unless you are doing AORs there is absolutely no justification to carry credit card debt around like that.

wackyrabbit said: You dance with the devil...your gonna get burned son. Unless you are doing AORs there is absolutely no justification to carry credit card debt around like that.

That's kind of a general statement-I do not agree that carrying balances are only justified if doing an AOR...but that's my opinion and at this point, I have no other choice. On the other hand, a lot of people had made some poor decisions with credit usage...myself being one of them in the past.

But the fact of the matter is, yes, I do have large credit card balances-at the same time I am doing everything right as far as I know to get these balances paid off. I basically do not use them anymore and have not in almost 2 years now-if I do, its to gain rewards and that balance is paid in full. I am making more than minimums on everything, never late, and usually pay large chunks every several months as my income fluctuates.

Why not try to dispute the inquiry as not consumer initiated?

Why would you dispute a valid inquiry?

It was explained above that FI are within their rights to at random/will/discretion check your credit files at anytime. They could also at their will/discretion cut, increase, decrease availability of credit to you.

The inquiry should be a soft pull, hence no impact at all to your scores; so why the rush?

I apologize if any confusion has been created on my part...as this thread seems to be raising a lot of negative ratings-which I am not really clear on why.

I felt it was a valid topic where BofA are doing hard pulls, resulting in an inquiry on my account, without my permission or me requesting more credit. I brought this up to see if anyone had any more info on it...and in general, figured it wouldn't be bad information to share.

It dropped 4 points-yes, that might not sound like a lot, but it dropped nonetheless...and as I stated, its very improtant to me to not to have anything unecessary on my report and even the slightest bit counts.

OP,

How do you know that indeed it was a hard pull?

Soft pulls are also shown as inquiries on the CR.

Cheapoking said: OP,

How do you know that indeed it was a hard pull?

Soft pulls are also shown as inquiries on the CR.

From my experience, if it shows as an inquiry and lowers the score at the same time, it is a hard pull.

If in fact a soft pull shows as an inquiry as well, I was not aware of that and have never seen anything on my report suggesting so-but how does one then distinguish between the two?

Revike said: OP, what source are you getting your credit report from?

Initially I received an alert from the Experian credit watch service I use-and then double checked through myFICO and pulled the TU myself and it showed there as well.

domain311 said: It dropped 4 points-yes, that might not sound like a lot, but it dropped nonetheless...and as I stated, its very improtant to me to not to have anything unecessary on my report and even the slightest bit counts.
If you want to avoid this put a freeze on your reports, I did that. Have found that banks that do a hard pull when opening an account will find another way to verify you.

SUCKISSTAPLES said: Industry standard is to do soft inquiries for account review but there is nothing which requires them to claassify as hard or soft

The CB's would do that and list them as such on the reports.

Let's be clear. I'm not arguing that BOA had no legal right to do a hard inquiry. I'm arguing that CRAs all tell us that hard inquiries mean we are seeking credit. In this case, that's not true. So, they have a responsibility to change it for accuracy's sake. Whether they can legally be required to change it is another question.

peteypablo said: Hard inquiries and soft inquiries are listed separately on the credit report. Hard inquiries are listed as inquiries that will be disclosed to those who check your credit. Soft inquiries are listed as inquiries that will be disclosed only to you. Do NOT rely on a decrease in your credit score coinciding with the inquiry. That decrease could result from any one of a dozen other things, including the passage of time.

With Credit Secure, only hard inquiries are disclosed when I check my credit online, unless I opt for the full printable credit report, which is what I check when I decide to dispute something.
Right, its one of those inquiries that will be disclosed to those that check my credit.

I understand your point on not actually relying on the inquiry as causing the decrease-but it just so happens that I had pulled my own 2 days prior and nothing else has changed on it except for this inquiry...so I can only assume that this is what caused it.

Cheapoking said: domain311 said: Cheapoking said: OP,

How do you know that indeed it was a hard pull?

Soft pulls are also shown as inquiries on the CR.


From my experience, if it shows as an inquiry and lowers the score at the same time, it is a hard pull.

If in fact a soft pull shows as an inquiry as well, I was not aware of that and have never seen anything on my report suggesting so-but how does one then distinguish between the two?

I think that you maybe confusing the fact that your credit scores went down with the timing of an inquiry. At the same time it could be indeed that the inquiry was in fact a hard pull?

Have you looked at your report to see exactly what type of inquiry was the one in question?

The credit reports are very specific to list exactly which inquiries "could affect your scores" (hard pulls)and which ones are just for "reviews" and should not affect them (soft), both are listed by creditors and dates on the CR.

Just as an example; I also received alerts from the CB's that my credit files were reviewed by an institution two months ago. My scores did not drop, nor was this listed as "an inquiry that could affect my scores." It was listed as a soft inquiry, as it should.

I'm not by any means trying to steer you away from disputing anything; it's your choice/decision. What I'm saying is, look at your report if possible, get the correct information and go from there. You would enhance the chances to come ahead by getting the right information from the start.

Good luck to you.

BTW, the reason why your scores dropped might have something to do with the lowering of your CL and thus increase of debt ratio due to the AOR monies as you mentioned.

I've checked again and have seen something similar in the past but am not seeing that on either of the two I've pulled my report from. Below is from TU myFICO:

Inquiries that may be affecting your FICO® score
Total: 2 Times
Date Company making the inquiry
November 05, 2009 Fia Csna
October 05, 2009 Barclays Bank Delaware

I also happened to pull this same report only 2 days ago and nothing has changed other than the inquiry-so this is why I am assuming it was the inquiry that caused the drop. The latest limit decrease has also yet to be reflected in my report.

peteypablo said: Let's be clear. I'm not arguing that BOA had no legal right to do a hard inquiry. I'm arguing that CRAs all tell us that hard inquiries mean we are seeking credit. In this case, that's not true. So, they have a responsibility to change it for accuracy's sake. Whether they can legally be required to change it is another question.

Well, I'm going to put in a dispute and will call BofA again tomorrow....see what happens. FYI, just realized they closed this account entirely now.

To clarify, as I think someone may have mentioned-this was not due to an AOR. I recently opened 2 new cards however-for 0% transfers. Credit score was between 730-770 for all three...now they are all around 730.

domain311 said: peteypablo said: Hard inquiries and soft inquiries are listed separately on the credit report. Hard inquiries are listed as inquiries that will be disclosed to those who check your credit. Soft inquiries are listed as inquiries that will be disclosed only to you. Do NOT rely on a decrease in your credit score coinciding with the inquiry. That decrease could result from any one of a dozen other things, including the passage of time.

With Credit Secure, only hard inquiries are disclosed when I check my credit online, unless I opt for the full printable credit report, which is what I check when I decide to dispute something.
Right, its one of those inquiries that will be disclosed to those that check my credit.

I understand your point on not actually relying on the inquiry as causing the decrease-but it just so happens that I had pulled my own 2 days prior and nothing else has changed on it except for this inquiry...so I can only assume that this is what caused it.

good thing not dealing with wells fargo csrs, because then he'd be told -- by supervisors, no less:

a) it's not possible, and
b) it's the credit bureau which decides how it's coded, not the bank, and
c) there's nothing the bank can do because it's not the bank's fault, so
d) contact the credit bureau not us.

has anyone actually had any good results from contacting the banks on issues like this? for those how have: HOW DID YOU DO IT, YOU MAGNIFICENT B's??!

SUCKISSTAPLES said: domain311 said: It dropped 4 points-yes, that might not sound like a lot, but it dropped nonetheless...and as I stated, its very improtant to me to not to have anything unecessary on my report and even the slightest bit counts.Again I ask how you know that drop is from the inquiry.

You cant just say "my score was 4 points higher last time I checked".... if ANYTHING on your report changed... a balance was paid down, a new card statement closed , your accounts became 1 month older, etc it all changes your score. Unless you are 100% certain every single parameter on your report is exactly the same as the last time you checked and every reported balance is exactly the same, you are incorrect to assume the inquiry is what dropped it the 4 points.

I understand that-I pull my report all the time and have been for several years. I did check it and nothing that I saw would lead me to believe something else made it drop-but sure...maybe, just maybe something else caused it. But the fact of the matter still remains-a hard pull, an inquiry was put through on my report. That alone, I am not happy about and will try to have it changed if possible.

Here is some more pasting below for reference...coming straight from the monitoring service:

Hard Inquiry

Balance Date: 11/6/2009Company: FIA CSNA
Current Balance:
Status Date:
Payment Status:
Company Phone: 3024576315
Company Address: 1000 SAMOSET DRIVE
DE5 021 01 09
NEWARK , DE 19713
Alert Reported by TransUnion
What is a Hard Inquiry?
A Hard Inquiry occurs when a company requests a copy of your Credit Report with your consent to open a new account in your name. Hard Inquiries usually have a negative impact on your credit rating and remain on your Credit Report for two years. A Soft Inquiry, which does not impact your credit rating, occurs when you look at your own Credit Report or when a company tries to pre-approve you as part of a marketing effort.

Well I spoke with BofA and they told me they could only re code it as a soft inquiry if it was an accident. They basically said any credit company that I hold credit with can pull my credit at any time-so they did nothing wrong and will not re code it. I also have 2 biz cards with balances so at that point I also asked them to lower the limit on those cards and told them I would even close the account's if that would help. They said closing would make it riskier for them and they would have to pull my credit again if I wanted it lowered so I of course declined...