Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports

I am writing to report deceptive business practices that resulted in an unauthorized hard credit inquiry on my credit reports by XXXX XXXX. I had spoken to a Mortgage Specialist on XX/XX/XXXX who told me they could run a soft credit check because I wasnt sure if I was ready yet to qualify for a mortgage. I agreed to a soft check and was told there were some deficiencies that were very minor and I could speak to an internal credit specialist to get an exact game plan to be ready for an actual mortgage pre-approval. I was referred to a XXXX, credit specialist from their internal team, on the same day and XXXX informed me before submitting an application with them theyd do soft pulls of my credit to look at any deficiencies that need to be corrected and monitor my progress until Im ready to apply and receive a pre-approval offer. On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX I received a phone call from XXXX again but I was unable to answer the phone. This time a voicemail was left letting me know he was checking in and stating I wanted to go over where we are with the new credit report, it looks like the game plan remains the same and he listed the actions I needed to take on 2 accounts to be able to get pre-approved with XXXXXXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I received a phone call from XXXX again and he advised he was checking in to see where I stood with the accounts that needed to be actioned on. I let him know one of the accounts a paid a little bit of the balance was not where they asked for it to be and I had not yet worked on the 2nd account yet but expect to be where they need to be within the next couple of months. He told me he would take a look anyways and see where everything is same as last time. We went over exactly what I told him, I did not make the progress they wanted to see and we spoke a few more minutes on next steps and he gave some suggestions and we disconnected the call. I was not made aware he would be processing this action as formal application for a mortgage after I specially told him I was not ready to apply at that time and was aware I did not yet qualify for a pre-approval with their terms not having been satisfied yet. When I came off the call with XXXX, I noticed a hard inquiry alert form a credit bureau and immediately contacted him at XXXX about the inquiry and on our phone call even he was initially puzzled as to why a hard inquiry appeared and did not seem to know why either. It took him a few minutes of reviewing and looking further during that call until he explained the system automatically pulled it as a hard inquiry, he did not give any actual answer and he did not say he was aware nor made me aware of would be a hard inquiry. I expressed my dissatisfaction that I was under the impression it would only be a soft inquiry as he stated and I explicitly told him I did not correct the deficiencies that they asked me to correct. He did nothing to reciting the situation. I was under the assumption the calls may be recorded so I hope this deceptive business practice and unauthorized credit inquiry can be looked into further as I did not apply for a mortgage with them and specially told them I was not ready to during our phone call. I opened a dispute with XXXX which is the company that XXXXXXXX XXXX used for the hard inquiry via email at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX that same day and was mailed a letter on XX/XX/XXXX advising me the inquiry will remain as accurate although I never actually authorized a credit pull that day. I called Equifax to try to start a dispute by phone and was directed by Equifax to contact the FTC to report the situation and get assistance in this situation through them to remove the inquiry. They did not direct me in any other way. They also provided me with details of soft credit pulls by XXXXXXXX XXXX having been done on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX although I never actually spoke to anyone on XX/XX/XXXX. I submitted a complaint with the FTC for this situation with XXXX XXXX  and I do have a complaint number from that. When I apply for credit I am normally provided written or verbal disclosures before processing a credit application and told it would result in an inquiry on my report before I give my consent. None of that happened with XXXX XXXX  or I would have denied access to any information because I was already aware I was not ready to apply for a mortgage at that time. Please investigate this matter on my behalf as soon as possible.