Is this a FCRA violation of an impermissible inquiry? What now?

Question

I had a bank account closed 4 months ago. After my single account was closed, I had NO business or account relationships of any type. I emailed the bank a QUESTION if their checking accounts included billpay; I made no subsequent application. As a result of that question by email, they pulled my credit AGAIN through ChexSystems. All Chex inquiries are HARD inquiries, in that they show up to subsequent inquirers. They used my customer information from when I had been a customer months earlier to do the pull; I didn’t give it to them when I asked my question by email. There was no contract in force and thus no reason to pull my credit. Credit should only be pulled when you APPLY or to REVIEW an EXISTING relationship. Is this an impermissible inquiry and if yes, what are my options? Representing myself, can I successfully sue them for $1000 for violating the FCRA Section 616? Should I file this in small claims court and if yes, would they be able to remove to Federal Court? Advice?

Answer 1

This is the third time you have asked this same question. It seems as if you are waiting for someone to agree with you.

The short answer is that even IF it is a violation of the FCRA, it would most likely not rise to the level of a willful violation. That would be reserved for a case where a company had never even heard of you and just pulled your report for no reason. In your case you did send them an e-mail and had a previous relationship.

So you would have to decide if you think you have a strong enough case. In the end a judge would decide, however from what it sounds like it would probably only be considered negligent(at most). In that case you would have to prove your actual damages. If you only had a single pull of your ChexSystem record it is going to be very hard to prove any monetary damages. ChexSystems is mainly used in the banking industry, and unlike the big 3(TransUnion, Experian, Equifax) are not used in any credit scoring for things such as Loans or Credit Cards. The only monetary damage you could possibly claim is if that pull caused you to get declined for an account at the bank. But since you said it was just a question you can not claim you were attempting to open an account.

Answer 2

Along with OC1999's answer.

If you had "no" accounts with that bank at the time you asked them the question (no checking, savings, loans, credit cards, etc), then they did not have permissible purpose (PP) to pull Chex.

But to simply notice they pulled Chex and run down to the court house and file suit - no, the judge will side with them when they claim bona fide error (which they "will" claim)

You would have to prove to the judge that you have done "everything" you possibly could to have the inquiry removed with no success.

To prove that you have done everything possible you would have to build your case. Without building a case you would not only be wasting everyones time (and the judge will not like it I assure you) but you will also be out the money that you used in filing the suit plus any and all court costs (which could include their lawyer fees).

You would have to dispute the inquiry with Chex, you would have to request documentation from the bank as to why they felt they had PP to pull an inquiry and you would have to request deletion of the inquiry from the bank.
If the inquiry remains, you would have to file complaints with the FTC, BBB, AG, the banking regulators (which is dependent on type of bank, for example, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, National Credit Union Administration, etc)

You would have to keep documentation on "everything" and you should send all of your letters by certified mail for proof that you have done everything you could to have it removed and was unsuccessful.

"You have to prove" that the bank willingly and knowingly violated your rights.