My credit report is a Mess with a capital M – the True Credit printer friendly version is about 26 pages long.  The first thing I did was go through an highlight anything that was under $50 which I can just pay and get rid of – my plan was to call them and negotiate deletions … so I have a call list prepared, now I also simultaneously wanted to send some letters out to start paper trails on some of my other creditors.  After doing a bunch of research, permissible purpose sounded like the easist issue to tackle – anyone listed in my inquiries section that I was not familiar with and that was not listed as a trade line on my credit report, I sent the following letter:

As per my Trans Union credit report, Credit Protection Association obtained my credit file on July 21, 2008.  I have attempted to inform Trans Union that this inquiry was not authorized as I never gave Credit Protection Association permission to view my credit report, and they advised me that there is no dispute process to remove this inaccuracy in my credit report and that only Credit Protection Association can remove the inquiry.

I don’t recall applying for credit or employment with Credit Protection Association, and I do not even have a general idea who you are.  Your business name is no where else on my credit report and therefore I find it overall disturbing that your business practices involve randomly pulling credit reports.  It is illegal and unethical to violate my rights by pulling my credit report for no reason.  My credit report contains sensitive information that is private and protected from unauthorized review.  As you know, a hard inquiry on my credit affects my score.  Why did you pull my credit?  Did you verify my identity before pulling my credit report?

Please provide me with copies bearing my signature and any documentation regarding your purpose so that I can evaluate whether my identity was compromised and my further actions can be determined.

It is not fair for banks, credit unions or businesses in general to prey upon individuals and damage their credit without any reason.  Your actions have contributed to me being denied credit and a place to live and I am very upset about your actions.  I hope you will provide me with some peace of mind by offering me a copy of a loan application or other document bearing my signature making your inquiry permissible.

I sent 4 of these out – I will revisit these 5 issues at the start of next month – all letters were sent certified registered return receipt … it was about $5 per letter … this may cause some creditors to start contacting me that I may have been dormant with, but that is ok – I am prepared to deal with that and I am also prepared to make some small payments toward my debt in an effort to clean up the train wreck my credit is in!  Following are the companies I sent letters to that pulled my credit without my authorization (as far as I know): a local credit union, Accounts Receivable Management, Credit Protection Association and Integrity Financial Partners.  Tomorrow, I will start my phone calls!!