Consumer complaint received 2025-12-16 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report — Reporting company used your report improperly
Company: NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting this complaint regarding an unauthorized hard credit inquiry performed by Navy Federal Credit Union in connection with a preapproval application that I did not accept or authorize to proceed.

I initiated what was presented as a preapproval process, which was represented as involving a soft credit inquiry only. At no point did I affirmatively accept or authorize a hard credit inquiry. I did not receive any confirmation email, disclosure notice, or acceptance screen indicating that a hard inquiry would be performed, nor did I click or agree to any action explicitly authorizing a hard pull.

Despite this, Navy Federal Credit Union reported a hard inquiry to the credit bureaus. When I contacted Navy Federal directly, they were unable to provide any written or electronic evidence that I agreed to proceed beyond preapproval or consented to a hard inquiry. They stated only that consent was implied by continuing the application, which I completed myself online. I did not proceed with, accept, or finalize any loan offer, and the preapproval ultimately expired without my acceptance. 

See attached, the consent language presented during the application process is ambiguous and problematic for the following reasons : It does not clearly distinguish between a soft inquiry and a hard inquiry It relies on implied consent rather than explicit authorization It does not require a separate affirmative action such as clicking I agree to a hard credit inquiry It does not present a clear confirmation screen stating that a hard inquiry will occur at that specific point of the pre-approval soft inquiry This ambiguity matters. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a hard credit inquiry requires clear, specific authorization. Implied consent through continuation of an application, especially where the process is marketed as a preapproval or soft inquiry, is insufficient and misleading to consumers. 

Additionally, I never received any confirmation email indicating that I had accepted an offer or authorized a hard inquiry. When I later logged into my account, the preapproval quote was no longer present, further indicating that I did not proceed or agree to finalize the application. 

I am also aware, based on publicly available consumer complaints and reports, that Navy Federal Credit Union has a documented history of automatically triggering hard credit inquiries after an initial soft inquiry, even when consumers believe they have only consented to a soft pull. This pattern raises serious concerns about systemic practices and consumer disclosure failures. 

I respectfully request that this matter be investigated and that the unauthorized hard inquiry be reviewed for compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and related consumer protection regulations. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. 

Sincerely, XXXX

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation