 TITLE: How to Remove Hard Inquiries From Your Credit Report CONTENT: Disputing Inaccurate Hard Inquiries Yourself\n--------------------------------------------\nIt's important to check your credit reports regularly for accuracy. If, while doing this, you've noticed a hard inquiry on your credit report that you believe is the result of identity theft, you can file a dispute with each of the three national credit reporting agencies and petition to have them update the inaccurate information.\nThe first step is to review your Experian credit report through our Dispute Center and verify your information. Next, confirm that the inquiry was not a result of identity theft.\nThere may be situations where you don't recognize the name of a company that checked your credit or you don't remember applying for a loan with a company you do recognize. Here are a few scenarios when inquiries you don't recognize may be legitimate:\n*   You may have solicited a home repair and provided your Social Security number to the vendor, and they may have taken that as an authorization to check your credit for financing reasons.\n*   If you sought financing when you were shopping for a car, a dealership may have sent your loan application to multiple lenders to find you the most favorable interest rates. Multiple inquiries with company names that you don't recognize could show up from that time period. If they all fell within a window of a few weeks, they will be considered rate shopping and will only count as a single inquiry in credit score calculations.\n*   The same scenario could happen with mortgage applications. For example, you may have solicited mortgage rates online, where a website sent your application to multiple lenders to find you the best rate. Also, you may have worked with mortgage servicer who sent your application to a lender, and that lender may have checked your credit on behalf of the mortgage servicer.\n*   Another example when a hard inquiry may look like fraud involves store credit cards. National retail stores may use financial services companies for their store cards, and when inquiries are made, they may show up with company names you don't recognize. For example, if you apply for credit at Kay Jewelers, you may see an inquiry from \"Comenity Bank\/Kay\" on your credit report.\nIf you don't recognize the company name that performed the hard inquiry, contact the company for more information. When you check your credit report through the Experian Dispute Center, the hard inquiry will be accompanied by the company name and typically the mailing address and a phone number.\nIf you have verified that the hard inquiry is due to identity theft, then the dispute would be handled over the phone with Experian specialists. You can [register with](;op=FRCD-ASK-ART-102-MDL-XXXXXXX-XX-EXP-VWIN-DIR-817XXX-36112X-XXXXX) or [log in to our Dispute Center](;refUrl=disputeCenter) to find our support options. There is no charge to use this service.\nOnce you submit the request, you can track your progress through the Dispute Center. Generally, the dispute process will be done within 30 days. If the inquiry was found to be valid, it will not be removed from your credit report. However, if the investigation shows the inquiry was a result of identity theft, it will be removed from your report. END