Consumer complaint received 2017-11-29
Company: Home Loan Center, Inc.
State: OH
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Credit inquiries on your report that you don't recognize

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) improperly, and without my permission, accessed my credit report causing it to have a " hard hit '' as it is known. On XX/XX/2017 I went to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX website ( XXXX ) and followed their steps to see what companies they were in touch with for loan amounts and interest rates. Their claim is to " put you in touch with lenders ''. The truth is they deceive you and obtain enough information to do a " hard credit hit '' without my express consent. 

As you follow the steps to find out lenders the website ( XXXX ) will ask you random information such as " Is this your only mortgage? ". They ask for your address, they ask for your age, they ask for your phone number. At the page where they ask for your age XXXX XXXX XXXX does not actually wait for you to click " continue '' instead it automatically moves you forward the moment you enter the last day of your birthdate. 

They ask quick and simple questions to keep you clicking and moving along fast. This is part of the deceit. You stop paying attention to what you are actually clicking on as the questions are quick and simple. I have screen captures of every page using a false name, address and phone number to prove how dishonest XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) truly is. 

Upon contacting the company I received a response that equated more or less to XXXX   XXXX XXXX saying, " tough luck, you should have read the fine print '' When I pointed out that even if you do read the fine print, nowhere does it state you will receive a hard credit hit. -And why would you? I did n't give them my social security number so how could a company access my credit information? From researching and talking to state authorities there is a loop hole in which XXXX XXXX XXXX manipulatively uses to gain this information without your consent. By giving them your name, phone number, address, and birthday they obtain the information needed to do a " hard credit hit ''. 

If you read the fine print on XXXX website ( not only is it fine, they make it hard to read by putting it in light gray ) in tiny letters XXXX XXXX XXXX writes " We take your privacy seriously. '' ( what a joke ) " You are providing express 'written ' consent to share your information with up to five Network partners ... '' Again even if you read this slowly, there is no mention of a " hard credit hit '' just that they will share your information. Again, if you have a magnifying glass and really good eyes you will spot this tiny almost invisible text. Still it does not ask for my permission. 

Finally, buried at the bottom of that page in the same font and see-through text XXXX   XXXX XXXX states, " You are providing Express Written Consent under the Fair Credit Reporting Act for XXXX, XXXX, selected dealer ( s ), and/or up to five ( 5 ) lender partners with whom you are matched to obtain your consumer credit report from your credit profile .... '' Once again this is hidden at the bottom of the page so you purposely do not read it. What is put right in from of your eyes is simply the words, " Your phone number '' then you must click to " Continue ''. Again their is zero mention of a " hard credit hit ''. XXXX   XXXX XXXX hides behind words like " partners with whom you are matched to obtain ... '' They do not come out and say they are going to hit your credit hard. -They know no one would hit " Continue ''. To the average eye ( see submission " 14 page.jpg '' it appears that you are just hitting continue with your phone number. That 's all that page contains in any legible print. Just enter your phone number and hit " Continue ''.

Car dealerships ( even the sleaziest of them ), to utility companies, to even The XXXX XXXX/cable providers have to inform you that they are going to put a " hard hit '' on your credit report. XXXX XXXX XXXX is far more deceptive than this. They are also well aware of it as there are dozens of thousands of complaints about them and this practice. 

They do not stop there though. The deceptive way they work is that XXXX XXXX XXXX now has this hidden consent that I or anyone is unaware of, and they " sell '' your information to their " partners '' so that their " partners '' can take out the actual hard credit hit without your permission. I contacted XXXX XXXX after seeing it was their name on the hard credit hit. They actually do take my credit seriously. They did a full internal investigation on how they were allowed to obtain my credit using a " hard credit hit ''. The officer at XXXX XXXX   went back so far as to listen to a recorded conversation they had with me in which I never was asked, and never gave them permission. He was so confused he had to go to the top of his company to find out how this unlawful activity could have been done. After days the officer contacted me back and found that XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) gave them consent by telling them that I had, in fact, given consent. XXXX XXXX was shocked by the behavior of XXXX XXXX XXXX and agreed that this was the most deceptive thing they had ever heard of, and was not aware that this was how XXXX XXXX XXXX   conducted their business. I am in the process of working with their executive team to stop being " partners '' with XXXX XXXX XXXX as they agree that the practice is deceptive and hurts would-be customers. 

I will attached a copy of each web page that you go through to see the ease in which XXXX XXXX XXXX lures you in click by simple click until they fool you into agreeing to something that you truly did not agree to.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation