 TITLE: Can Businesses Run My Credit Without My Permission? CONTENT: How Businesses Check Your Credit\n--------------------------------\nBusinesses can check your credit by requesting a copy of your credit report from one of the major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion or Equifax. When this happens, a record of the credit check is added to your credit report and remains there for two years.\nWhen the credit inquiry is the result of you applying for credit and giving a business permission to check your report, a hard inquiry is recorded on your credit report. Hard inquiries stay on credit reports for about two years and may have a small, negative impact on your credit scores. Other businesses will also be able to see these hard inquiries when they check your credit.\nWhen a company checks your credit report to make a promotional offer or when your lender conducts periodic reviews of your existing credit accounts, it is called a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries also occur when you check your own credit report or when you use credit monitoring services from companies like Experian. These inquiries do not impact your credit score. END