Consumer complaint received 2021-01-22
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: IL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
I contacted all of my credit bureaus on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to agents at each of the bureaus in regards to the Hard Inquiries that are appearing on my report. 

This complaint applies to the credit bureaus : XXXX, XXXX, and Equifax. 
This complaint also applies to lenders : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) According to consumerfinance.gov ( https : //www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-exactly-happens-when-a-mortgage-lender-checks-my-credit-en-2005/ ), as a consumer : " You can shop around for a mortgage and it will not hurt your credit Within a 45-day window, multiple credit checks from mortgage lenders are recorded on your credit report as a single inquiry. This is because other creditors realize that you are only going to buy one home. You can shop around and get multiple pre-approvals and official Loan Estimates. The impact on your credit is the same no matter how many lenders you consult, as long as the last credit check is within 45 days of the first credit check. Even if a lender needs to check your credit after the 45-day window is over, shopping around is usually still worth it. The impact of an additional inquiry is small, while shopping around for the best deal can save you a lot of money in the long run. Note : the 45-day rule applies only to credit checks from mortgage lenders or brokers ' credit card and other inquiries are processed separately. '' In speaking with XXXX, I wanted to discuss the multiple hard inquiries on my report and how they were viewing them. I advised I had shopped around multiple lenders ( XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX ). I asked if these were being looked as a single inquiry or individual inquiries. The agent responded as multiple individual inquiries. I asked when they would consolidate to one. The agent responded that it depended on time frame and said that I only have " 14 days '' to do multiple checks with multiple mortgage lenders to be considered as a single inquiry. As mentioned earlier, CFPB states I have 45 day window to shop around and I had advised the agent on this, but was told that it was a 14 day window. 

In speaking with XXXX, I wanted to discuss the multiple hard inquiries on my report and how they were viewing them. I advised I had shopped around multiple lenders ( XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX ). I asked if these were being looked as a single inquiry or individual inquiries. The agent responded as multiple individual inquiries. I asked when they would consolidate to one. The agent responded that it depended on time frame and said that I only have " 30-90 days '' to do multiple checks with multiple mortgage lenders to be considered as a single inquiry. Additionally, the agent said that they " even if its mortgage shopping, they would only be considered as a single inquiry if THEY ARE FROM THE SAME LENDER/COMPANY '' - which makes absolutely no sense. As mentioned earlier, CFPB states I have 45 day window to shop around and I had advised the agent on this, but was told that it was a 30-90 window and only if they were from the same lender. 

In speaking with Equifax, I wanted to discuss the multiple hard inquiries on my report and how they were viewing them. I advised I had shopped around multiple lenders ( XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX ). I asked if these were being looked as a single inquiry or individual inquiries. The agent responded as multiple individual inquiries. I asked when they would consolidate to one. The agent responded that it depended on time frame and said that I only have " 30 days '' to do multiple checks with multiple mortgage lenders to be considered as a single inquiry. As mentioned earlier, CFPB states I have 45 day window to shop around and I had advised the agent on this, but was told that it was a 14 day window. 

In speaking with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Lender ) : They advised I can do multiple credit checks within 30 days to shop multiple lenders and count as a single inquiry. 

In speaking with XXXX XXXX ( Lender ) : They advised I can do multiple credit checks within 30 days with multiple lenders and count as a single inquiry, but also did not disclose to me what the minimum credit score needed was XXXX and I knowingly knew I would be below that before. I would like to have this inquiry remove for multiple reasons as mentioned. 

In speaking with XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) ( Lender ) : They advised me " 14 days to be safe '' but " can go up to 45 days '' to shop multiple lenders and count as a single inquiry. 

I believe the credit bureaus and mortgage lenders are not operating correctly or fairly, nor complying with this 45 day shopping window. As mentioned, there seems to be a wild disconnect on these time frames across credit bureaus and mortgage lenders/brokers I was operating under the 45 day window rule according to CFPB since I began shopping In following this 45 day rule, according to my credit bureaus, or Lenders, they are not operating under the same rule and each have their own, causing me to have multiple hard inquiries affecting my credit score negatively and will impact my ability to do successful credit checks in the future.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation