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Unauthorized Credit Inquiry Dispute Letter Template

An inquiry you do not recognize is worth asking about — sometimes it is a clerical error, sometimes it is a company you forgot you dealt with, and occasionally it is the first visible sign of identity theft. This page helps you tell which, then gives you the letter that fits.

Published August 3, 2026 · Educational information — not legal, tax, lending, or financial advice.

Quick answer

Start by working out what kind of inquiry you are looking at, because most of them are not errors. A hard inquiry is permissible when a company had a legitimate reason under section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b — usually because you applied for something. Soft inquiries, including your own checks and promotional screening, are not shown to lenders and generally do not affect your scores. If the name or date is wrong, ask the bureau to correct it. If you truly did not authorize the pull, write to both the bureau and the company that made it. What you cannot do is require deletion simply because you asked a company to prove itself — and if you suspect identity theft, start at IdentityTheft.gov instead.

VERIFY YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS FIRST

Use your current 3-bureau account information before editing this letter

Account numbers, balances, payment history, dates, and reporting details must match your current credit reports. Open your 3-bureau monitoring account and verify the information before completing the template.

Every letter on this page starts from what your report actually says. Pull all three reports free at AnnualCreditReport.com — and if you want a quick educational read on where you stand today, your free Credit Snapshot takes about two minutes, with no card and no obligation.

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Letter 1 — to the credit reporting company

Send this to the bureau that is showing the inquiry. If two bureaus show it, send two letters — disputes are not shared between them.

Three pre-addressed versions of this letter are provided below — choose the bureau whose report shows the item. Dispute with every bureau that shows it, using one letter per bureau.

Equifax Letter — inquiry dispute to a credit reporting company

[FULL NAME] [STREET ADDRESS] [CITY, STATE ZIP] [DATE] Equifax Information Services LLC P.O. Box 740256 Atlanta, GA 30374 Re: Dispute of an inquiry I did not authorize — [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT], inquiry dated [INQUIRY DATE] Report reference number (if shown on your report): [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] To whom it may concern: I am writing under section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, to dispute an inquiry appearing in my credit file. I have reviewed my Equifax report dated [REPORT DATE] and marked the entry on the enclosed copy. INQUIRY SUMMARY Company as shown on the report: [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT] Credit bureau showing the inquiry: Equifax Report date: [REPORT DATE] Inquiry date: [INQUIRY DATE] Type of inquiry, if shown: [HARD OR SOFT, AND ANY STATED PURPOSE] Report or confirmation number: [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] Reason I am disputing it: [REASON — SEE THE GUIDE BELOW] Identity theft suspected: [YES OR NO] Supporting documentation enclosed: [LIST OF ENCLOSURES, OR “NONE”] Requested action: [REQUESTED INVESTIGATION OR CORRECTION] [STATE YOUR FACTS IN ONE OR TWO PLAIN SENTENCES.] For example: I did not apply for credit with this company, I have no account or other relationship with it, and I did not authorize it to obtain my consumer report. Or: I recognize this transaction, but the company name and inquiry date shown are incorrect, and the correct details are as follows. To the best of my knowledge, no permissible purpose existed for this company to obtain my consumer report under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. Please investigate this entry, determine whether it was obtained for a permissible purpose and is accurately reported, and correct or remove it if it cannot be verified. Please send me written results of the investigation and an updated copy of my report if the entry changes. If you are able to tell me the identity and contact information of the party that obtained the report, I would appreciate that as well, so that I can follow up directly. You may contact me in writing at the address above. Sincerely, [FULL NAME] Enclosures: [NUMBER] — marked copy of report page[, AND ANY OTHER ENCLOSURES]

Mail this letter with copies of your supporting documents — never originals. See the mailing and recordkeeping checklist on this page before you send.

Experian Letter — inquiry dispute to a credit reporting company

[FULL NAME] [STREET ADDRESS] [CITY, STATE ZIP] [DATE] Experian P.O. Box 4500 Allen, TX 75013 Re: Dispute of an inquiry I did not authorize — [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT], inquiry dated [INQUIRY DATE] Report reference number (if shown on your report): [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] To whom it may concern: I am writing under section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, to dispute an inquiry appearing in my credit file. I have reviewed my Experian report dated [REPORT DATE] and marked the entry on the enclosed copy. INQUIRY SUMMARY Company as shown on the report: [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT] Credit bureau showing the inquiry: Experian Report date: [REPORT DATE] Inquiry date: [INQUIRY DATE] Type of inquiry, if shown: [HARD OR SOFT, AND ANY STATED PURPOSE] Report or confirmation number: [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] Reason I am disputing it: [REASON — SEE THE GUIDE BELOW] Identity theft suspected: [YES OR NO] Supporting documentation enclosed: [LIST OF ENCLOSURES, OR “NONE”] Requested action: [REQUESTED INVESTIGATION OR CORRECTION] [STATE YOUR FACTS IN ONE OR TWO PLAIN SENTENCES.] For example: I did not apply for credit with this company, I have no account or other relationship with it, and I did not authorize it to obtain my consumer report. Or: I recognize this transaction, but the company name and inquiry date shown are incorrect, and the correct details are as follows. To the best of my knowledge, no permissible purpose existed for this company to obtain my consumer report under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. Please investigate this entry, determine whether it was obtained for a permissible purpose and is accurately reported, and correct or remove it if it cannot be verified. Please send me written results of the investigation and an updated copy of my report if the entry changes. If you are able to tell me the identity and contact information of the party that obtained the report, I would appreciate that as well, so that I can follow up directly. You may contact me in writing at the address above. Sincerely, [FULL NAME] Enclosures: [NUMBER] — marked copy of report page[, AND ANY OTHER ENCLOSURES]

Mail this letter with copies of your supporting documents — never originals. See the mailing and recordkeeping checklist on this page before you send.

TransUnion Letter — inquiry dispute to a credit reporting company

[FULL NAME] [STREET ADDRESS] [CITY, STATE ZIP] [DATE] TransUnion Consumer Solutions P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016-2000 Re: Dispute of an inquiry I did not authorize — [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT], inquiry dated [INQUIRY DATE] Report reference number (if shown on your report): [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] To whom it may concern: I am writing under section 611 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, to dispute an inquiry appearing in my credit file. I have reviewed my TransUnion report dated [REPORT DATE] and marked the entry on the enclosed copy. INQUIRY SUMMARY Company as shown on the report: [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT] Credit bureau showing the inquiry: TransUnion Report date: [REPORT DATE] Inquiry date: [INQUIRY DATE] Type of inquiry, if shown: [HARD OR SOFT, AND ANY STATED PURPOSE] Report or confirmation number: [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] Reason I am disputing it: [REASON — SEE THE GUIDE BELOW] Identity theft suspected: [YES OR NO] Supporting documentation enclosed: [LIST OF ENCLOSURES, OR “NONE”] Requested action: [REQUESTED INVESTIGATION OR CORRECTION] [STATE YOUR FACTS IN ONE OR TWO PLAIN SENTENCES.] For example: I did not apply for credit with this company, I have no account or other relationship with it, and I did not authorize it to obtain my consumer report. Or: I recognize this transaction, but the company name and inquiry date shown are incorrect, and the correct details are as follows. To the best of my knowledge, no permissible purpose existed for this company to obtain my consumer report under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b. Please investigate this entry, determine whether it was obtained for a permissible purpose and is accurately reported, and correct or remove it if it cannot be verified. Please send me written results of the investigation and an updated copy of my report if the entry changes. If you are able to tell me the identity and contact information of the party that obtained the report, I would appreciate that as well, so that I can follow up directly. You may contact me in writing at the address above. Sincerely, [FULL NAME] Enclosures: [NUMBER] — marked copy of report page[, AND ANY OTHER ENCLOSURES]

Mail this letter with copies of your supporting documents — never originals. See the mailing and recordkeeping checklist on this page before you send.

What every bracketed placeholder means

  • [FULL NAME] Your name exactly as it appears on the report.
  • [STREET ADDRESS] / [CITY, STATE ZIP] Your current mailing address.
  • [DATE] The date you are mailing the letter.
  • [CREDIT REPORTING COMPANY NAME] Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion — one company per letter.
  • Bureau name and mailing address Pre-filled in each version of the bureau letter above. Use the Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion letter that matches the report showing the inquiry — still one company per letter.
  • [COMPANY NAME AS SHOWN ON THE REPORT] Copy it exactly, even if it looks garbled or unfamiliar — that string is how the entry is identified.
  • [INQUIRY DATE] The date the report shows for the pull.
  • [HARD OR SOFT, AND ANY STATED PURPOSE] Whatever the report tells you. Write “not stated” if it says nothing.
  • [REPORT REFERENCE NUMBER] The confirmation or file number printed on your report, if there is one. Delete the line if not.
  • [REASON — SEE THE GUIDE BELOW] One short, factual reason: you never applied and have no relationship with the company; or the name or date is wrong; or the pull is connected to fraud you have reported.
  • [YES OR NO] Answer honestly. If yes, file at IdentityTheft.gov first and use the identity-theft template instead of this one.
  • [LIST OF ENCLOSURES, OR “NONE”] You may have nothing to enclose beyond the marked report page, and that is normal for an inquiry dispute.
  • [REQUESTED INVESTIGATION OR CORRECTION] Say what you want: investigate and remove if unverifiable, or correct the company name or date to the accurate detail.
  • [STATE YOUR FACTS IN ONE OR TWO PLAIN SENTENCES.] The heart of the letter. Keep it factual and keep it short.

Replace every placeholder with your own accurate details and delete any line that does not apply. Do not mail this wording unchanged, and do not state that you did not authorize a pull if you are not certain that is true.

Letter 2 — to the company that made the inquiry

This one goes directly to the business whose name appears on the report. It is a different kind of letter from the first: you are not invoking the bureau’s investigation duty, you are asking the company what it relied on and asking it to withdraw the inquiry if it had no basis for the pull.

Set your expectations accordingly. A company that had a permissible purpose is entitled to say so and leave the entry standing, and a direct dispute to a furnisher about an inquiry falls outside the categories a furnisher must investigate under Regulation V, 12 C.F.R. § 1022.43 — inquiries are one of that rule’s listed exceptions. Many companies still answer, because a genuinely unauthorized pull is a compliance problem they would rather fix quietly. What this letter reliably produces is a dated record of you asking, which is worth having if this becomes a fraud case or a complaint.

Use the company’s own address, and keep the tone level

Addresses change and this page deliberately prints none. Use the address the company publishes for consumer or compliance correspondence, or the address shown on any paperwork you have from it. If your report lists contact details for the party that made the inquiry, use those.

Write it as a question, not a threat. A first letter that accuses a company of willful misconduct, demands a thousand dollars per violation, or announces a lawsuit tends to be routed to counsel and answered with nothing. A short, factual letter asking what authorization the company relied on is more likely to get a real reply — and it reads far better if you ever need to show it to a regulator or a court.

Sample: request to the company that obtained your report

[FULL NAME] [STREET ADDRESS] [CITY, STATE ZIP] [DATE] [COMPANY NAME] [COMPANY ADDRESS FOR CONSUMER OR COMPLIANCE CORRESPONDENCE] Re: Credit report inquiry dated [INQUIRY DATE] appearing on my [CREDIT REPORTING COMPANY NAME] report To whom it may concern: My [CREDIT REPORTING COMPANY NAME] credit report, dated [REPORT DATE], shows that your company obtained my consumer report on [INQUIRY DATE]. INQUIRY SUMMARY Company: [COMPANY NAME] Credit bureau showing the inquiry: [CREDIT REPORTING COMPANY NAME] Report date: [REPORT DATE] Inquiry date: [INQUIRY DATE] Type of inquiry, if shown: [HARD OR SOFT, AND ANY STATED PURPOSE] My records show: [NO APPLICATION, NO ACCOUNT, AND NO AUTHORIZATION — OR DESCRIBE WHAT YOUR RECORDS SHOW] Identity theft suspected: [YES OR NO] Requested action: [REQUESTED ACTION] I have no record of applying for credit or services with your company, and I do not believe I authorized your company to obtain my consumer report. I am writing to ask what permissible purpose your company relied on under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b, and, if the report was obtained without one, to ask that you withdraw the inquiry with the credit reporting company and confirm that in writing. If your records show an application or authorization associated with my name, please tell me the date it was submitted and the information used, so that I can determine whether someone submitted it without my knowledge. If it appears that someone used my identity, I will file a report at IdentityTheft.gov and follow up with you and the credit reporting companies. Please respond in writing to the address above. Sincerely, [FULL NAME] Enclosure: marked copy of the report page showing the inquiry

Mail this letter with copies of your supporting documents — never originals. See the mailing and recordkeeping checklist on this page before you send.

Notes on the second letter

  • [COMPANY ADDRESS FOR CONSUMER OR COMPLIANCE CORRESPONDENCE] Verify it yourself before mailing — a letter to a retail branch rarely reaches the department that can answer.
  • [NO APPLICATION, NO ACCOUNT, AND NO AUTHORIZATION — OR DESCRIBE WHAT YOUR RECORDS SHOW] Be precise and be honest. If you did once shop with this company, say so and explain why you still believe the pull was unauthorized.
  • [REQUESTED ACTION] Usually: identify the permissible purpose relied on, or withdraw the inquiry and confirm in writing.

Do not send this letter to a company you did apply to. If you are unsure whether you applied, ask the question without the accusation — request the date and details of any application on file, and decide once you have the answer.

Who this letter is for

This page is for a consumer reading the inquiries section of a credit report and finding an entry that does not fit — a company name they do not know, a date that does not line up with any application they made, or a pull they are confident they never agreed to.

It is worth saying plainly at the start: hard inquiries usually matter less than people expect. They generally stay on a report for about two years, most scoring models stop counting them well before that, and a single one typically has a small effect compared with payment history or how much of your available credit you are using. That is not a reason to ignore an inquiry you do not recognize — an unexplained pull is worth understanding, and occasionally it is the first sign of something serious — but it is a reason not to spend months of effort on one.

Six situations that look alike on a credit report

Reading a strange entry correctly saves you from writing the wrong letter. These six are easy to confuse and call for different responses.

  • An inquiry you simply do not recognize. Very common, and usually explainable. Retailers, dealerships, and lenders often report under a parent company, a financing partner, or a legal name you have never seen on a storefront. Look the name up before assuming anything is wrong.
  • An inquiry with the wrong company name or date. You recognize the transaction, but the report has the detail wrong. That is an accuracy question for the credit reporting company — the right correction may be a fix, not a deletion.
  • A permissible inquiry you did authorize. You applied, or you signed something that allowed a pull. It belongs on the report. Disputing it will not remove it, and it will come back verified.
  • A soft inquiry. Your own checks, account reviews by companies you already do business with, and pre-screened offers. These are shown to you but are not furnished to lenders in connection with credit or insurance offers you did not initiate, and they generally do not affect your scores.
  • Suspected identity theft. An inquiry you did not authorize alongside an account you do not recognize, mail you never asked for, or an alert you cannot explain. This changes the process entirely — see the panel below.
  • A disagreement with a company that had a permissible purpose anyway. You may feel a pull was unnecessary, or that a dealership shopped your application to more lenders than you expected. That can be a legitimate complaint, but if the company had a permissible purpose the inquiry is not inaccurate, and a dispute is the wrong instrument for it.

If you suspect identity theft, start there instead

Do not begin with an inquiry dispute. Begin at IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC’s official reporting site, which generates the Identity Theft Report that unlocks stronger protections than an ordinary dispute offers — including a block on information that resulted from the theft under section 605B of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2.

Then work from the Identity Theft Credit Report Letter Template, which covers the block request, the enclosure checklist, and the fraud alert or credit freeze decision. Come back to this page only if it turns out no fraud occurred. Never claim identity theft for an inquiry connected to an application you actually made.

Start from what your report actually says

A letter is only as good as the facts behind it. Before you write, get a current picture of all three files: your scores, your account summaries, the negative items, the alerts, and the factors moving your score. That is what tells you which template you need, which bureau to write to, and which month or field is actually wrong.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only authorized source for the free reports federal law entitles you to, and it is the right starting point for a dispute. If you also want an ongoing three-bureau view while you work, optional monitoring through MyFreeScoreNow is one way to get it — an independent third-party platform, useful for reviewing and planning, and no substitute for your federally authorized reports. No monitoring service files disputes for you, corrects anything on your behalf, or guarantees any result.

What makes an inquiry permissible

Federal law does not let anyone pull your credit report for any reason they like. Under section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b, a consumer reporting agency may furnish a report only for specific permissible purposes. The ones consumers meet most often are a credit transaction you initiated, a review or collection of an account you already have, insurance underwriting, employment purposes with your written authorization, and a legitimate business need in connection with a transaction you started — plus a court order or your own written instructions.

That is the standard your letter rests on. You are not asking a company to justify itself as a formality; you are saying that as far as you know, no permissible purpose existed, because you never applied for anything and never authorized a pull. That is a real and specific allegation, which is why it should only be made when it is true.

Where the § 609 “prove it” theory goes wrong

You will see the claim that writing to a bureau under section 609 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and demanding proof of an inquiry forces its removal. It does not. Section 609 is a disclosure provision — it governs your right to see what is in your file and who has obtained it. It is not a removal mechanism, and no part of the statute says an entry must be deleted because a consumer asked a company to prove itself.

An investigation is triggered by a dispute about accuracy under section 611, and a permissible inquiry that is accurately reported will survive it. Asking for proof is a reasonable question to put to the company that made the pull — the second letter on this page does exactly that — but it is a request, not a lever, and a company that had a permissible purpose is entitled to have the entry stand.

What this letter can and cannot do
  • Ask the credit reporting company to investigate whether an inquiry is accurately reported and whether it was made for a permissible purpose
  • Get a wrong company name, wrong date, or duplicated entry corrected
  • Put the company that made the pull on notice, in writing, that you did not authorize it, and ask what it relied on
  • Create a dated paper trail — which is what matters if this later turns out to be fraud
  • Require deletion of an inquiry that was permissible and is accurately reported
  • Require deletion simply because you asked for proof and were not satisfied with the answer
  • Remove an inquiry from an application you actually submitted, including one a dealership or broker sent to several lenders on your behalf
  • Change your score by a predictable amount — even a successful removal may change very little
  • Do the work of an identity-theft report, if that is what the situation actually calls for

Information you may need

Most of what you need is on the report itself. Collect it before you write:

  • The company name exactly as the report prints it
  • Which credit reporting company is showing the inquiry, and the date printed on that report
  • The inquiry date shown
  • The type of inquiry, if the report says — hard or soft, and the stated purpose if one is given
  • The report or confirmation number, if your report carries one
  • Your own record of what you did and did not apply for around that date
  • Any correspondence, application copy, or account record that helps explain the entry
  • An Identity Theft Report from IdentityTheft.gov, if fraud is involved

Protecting your own information

Send copies, never originals — nothing you mail comes back. Mask account numbers down to the last four digits wherever the last four are enough to identify the account, and black out unrelated account numbers, balances, and other people’s information on any statement or report page you enclose.

Do not write a full Social Security number into a sample letter, and never type one into a web page — including this one. If a recipient asks for identity verification, send only what that recipient actually asks for, use its own secure channel where one exists, and do not paste a photograph of an identification card into the body of the letter. This website does not collect, transmit, store, or pre-fill any personal or credit information.

Before you send: a last read-through

Ten lines. If you can tick all ten, the package is ready to leave the house.

  • I reviewed a current credit report or collection notice.
  • I identified the exact information at issue.
  • I explained why it is wrong, or why I am requesting information.
  • I included supporting documents.
  • I kept the originals.
  • I masked unnecessary sensitive information.
  • I verified the current mailing address.
  • I saved a complete copy of the package.
  • I selected a trackable mailing method.
  • I recorded the delivery date and the response deadline.
  • I looked up the company name before assuming the inquiry was unauthorized.
  • If I suspect fraud, I filed at IdentityTheft.gov first.

Mailing and recordkeeping checklist

  • Send one letter per credit reporting company, and keep each letter to one issue where you can
  • Mark the disputed inquiry on the enclosed report page
  • Send Letter 2 separately from Letter 1 — they go to different recipients and do different jobs
  • Send copies of every document — never originals
  • Mark the disputed entry on the enclosed report page so it cannot be missed
  • Use certified mail with a return receipt if you want proof of delivery, or keep the online submission confirmation
  • Photocopy or scan the complete package before it leaves your hands
  • Note the mailing date and count 30 days forward as the date to expect results
  • File the copy, the receipt, and any response together, by account

Keep a tracking log

One row per letter: recipient, date sent, method, tracking or confirmation number, what you enclosed, the date a response is due, the date a response arrived, and the outcome. A single page in a notebook is enough. When something goes wrong months later — a corrected item reappears, or nobody responds — that log is the difference between a documented case and a memory.

What may happen next

The inquiry is removed or corrected. If it cannot be verified, or the company confirms it had no basis for the pull, the entry should be corrected or removed. Expect the score effect to be modest — often barely visible — because a single hard inquiry usually carries little weight to begin with.

The inquiry is verified as permissible. Then it stays, and that is the system working. This happens often, because most unfamiliar inquiries turn out to trace back to something real: a financing partner behind a retailer, a dealership that submitted your application to several lenders, or an account review by a company you already do business with. If the explanation identifies a transaction you recognize, the matter is closed.

The company answers with an application you never made. That is the most important outcome on this page, and it changes everything. File immediately at IdentityTheft.gov, consider a fraud alert or a credit freeze, and move to the Identity Theft Credit Report Letter Template. Keep everything you have received — the letter you sent and the reply you got are now evidence.

Nobody answers. The company has no general obligation to reply to Letter 2, so silence is not proof of anything. You still have the bureau dispute, and you can submit a complaint to the CFPB if you believe a report was obtained without a permissible purpose.

None of these outcomes is guaranteed in either direction, and no letter can promise the removal of an inquiry.

Related reading from our Learning Center
How to Remove Unauthorized Hard Inquiries From Your Credit Report Soft Inquiry vs. Hard Inquiry: What’s the Difference? How Long Do Hard Inquiries Stay on Your Credit Report? How Many Hard Inquiries Is Too Many? How to Spot Identity Theft Early

Other templates that may fit better

The inquiry came with accounts you do not recognize — Identity Theft Credit Report Letter Template. Your name, address, or employer is also wrong on the file — Personal Information Correction Letter Template. Something other than an inquiry is inaccurate — Credit Bureau Dispute Letter Template.

Official government resources
CFPB: How do I dispute an error on my credit report?— the dispute process, what a letter should contain, and current bureau contact routes. FTC: Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports— the plain-language walkthrough, including what happens after you file. AnnualCreditReport.com— the only authorized source for the free reports federal law entitles you to. CFPB: Submit a Complaint— free escalation if a company will not resolve a documented problem. IdentityTheft.gov— the FTC’s official site for reporting identity theft and generating an Identity Theft Report.

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Educational information only — not legal, tax, lending, or financial advice, and not a substitute for an attorney. Credit Consultants Group does not guarantee deletions, score changes, approvals, or any particular outcome, and no letter can. Every statement you make must be truthful and specific to your own accounts; do not send a dispute about information you know to be accurate. This website does not collect, transmit, store, or pre-fill any personal or credit information.

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