Unauthorized Credit Inquiries - Hard Pulls
 

Maybe I can get guidance.

I am raging mad!

Barclay's Arrival just approved me for a credit increase of $4K. (without me asking for it)
But they pulled my credit! Not a soft credit, a hard credit.
Mad, Mad, Mad.
Not only will if affect my churn, but I am trying to buy a house.

A couple of weeks ago Paypal also just pulled my wife's credit.

Is there a recourse to reverse it?

Thanks, and sorry for the rant!

Sorry I can't answer your question and do appreciate your frustration but it does make me think about a tongue-in-cheek reverse rant from a credit card company:

"This guy keeps churning our cards, it's so unfair and not what we intended. Is there anything we can do about it? Sorry for the rant."

Unauthorized Credit Inquiries - Hard Pulls
 

Did you ask for the CL increase? Does your wife use Paypal to buy things?

If you asked for a credit line increase it is standard that they hard pull. I'd expect it to take an act of Congress to increase your credit line without a hard pull. MS'ing is about the last thing you need to be doing when buying a house.

This shouldn't be surprising. Here's a blog post that mentions most issuers:

Which Credit Card Companies Do A Hard Pull For A Credit Limit Increase?

get a discover if you want easy CLIs... some people get +1k CLI every 17 days (YMMV of course). they do soft pull, and ask if you want HP if soft pull fails

almost no brainer considering the 2% cashback and 5% rotating

OP sought a CL increase and his credit was pulled. Not only does this affect credit score, but the mere fact of increased debt may cause problems for OP if he is seeking a mortgage.

Maybe the first thing a decent mortgage broker tells an applicant is not to take on new debt from the time the application is made and closing (absent a genuine need and with a clearcut written explanation, e.g., "we needed new furniture for the house and took on an extra $5K in debt. Attached is the receipt from the furniture store."

OP should be mad, mad, mad. At himself.

Did you request a CLI, or did the bank just grant it out of the blue. If you requested it it is valid as you did request additional credit, but you should have been informed that it would happen. If it was an online request there would have been a box to check to approve this.

If you did not request the CLI, are you sure it is really a hard pull? How are you checking? I have had a couple things pop up in notifications on Credit Karma or Sesame, but then they are gone when I look at the actual report. I think they either get confused about a soft pull and report it as hard, or refresh something old.

Paypal has been doing a hard pull on people's credit (as they did mine) even though not applying for a credit card! Just to use their service to pay for online purchases via a credit card registered to them. I called to complain and they had me fax in all kinds of things! I let them know if their pull was not removed from my report I would file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington (Thank you Elizabeth Warren!)

This is why I always have all of my credit bureau's frozen and only temporarily unlock them when doing an app.

PayPal credit is also known to do hard pulls. They are, after all, offering you credit.

Unauthorized Credit Inquiries - Hard Pulls
 

I don't think OP requested the CLI, for all you saying that he should have known. I've had my CL increased randomly too but didn't ask for it and didn't check if they did a hard pull.

Depends on the issuer.

The Barclays CLI webpage clearly states they'll pull your credit AFAIK.

it depends on the issuer

sounds like OP requested CLI (otherwise he would say "Barclays just gave me CLI out of the blue)... if OP didn't request CLI, then hard pull is unauthorized

it's well know that BoA, Chase and Barclays does hard pull for any sort of customer-requested CLI.

by definition, credit reports/scores reflect the credit worthiness and risk of a person.

If a person wants to get a higher credit limit, he wants to be re-evaluated on his credit worthiness... Does his potential risk change because of this behavior? (yes = hard pull. some companies think that soft pull is enough)

I disagree. OP didn't write that Barclays offered a CLI and didn't write that it was unsolicited, instead, OP wrote:

One wouldn't typically write "approved" if it was unsolicited. One would usually write "offered" or something similar.

Only OP knows and could answer though.

I do notice that, and yes only he can confirm. But I just think he's summarizing the situation and not being exact with his language, while most of the replies are taking those words literally. I think this because I just got one letter like this last week from Barclays. The letter basically says (to paraphrase) "congratulations, you have been approved for a credit increase on your account to the amount of $xxx." So that's where I think he's getting his language from.

If OP requested an increase, then yes, he should have known and we all should know. But Barclays moved my limit up unsolicited on my part whatsoever. I did not check to see if it was a hard pull, and I assumed it was not. I would also be surprised just like the OP if that "upgrade" was a hard pull, so that is why I am suggesting maybe OP didn't request it.

I could clearly be wrong. If he/she requested then there's not much debate. However, if unsolicited and resulted in a hard pull, that's more of a debate as to how to handle it.

I did NOT ask for a credit increase.

I did Not request a CL Increase, I just received a letter in the mail, then a couple of days later, an alert from Karma/Sesame. That is why I am mad. US BANK & CHASE have offered me in the past with CL increases, with me explicitly confirming it, and in both situations without hard pulls.

Anyways, I doubt I can get it removed at this point, but it makes me mad that they did this.

That is really strange of all the years I have had credit cards no bank or credit union has just increased my CL without me requesting an increase.

1. It is pretty routine for CC issuers to increase CL's without request.

2. It is pretty routine for CC issuers to do a pull on a random basis or in connection with a CL increase. If you read the t&c of your card you will see that you have authorized them to do this.

I agree. I've had several increases over the years from more than one card issuer without asking for it.

How did paypal get your SSN number? I have a paypal account, but never gave them my bank details (to get "verified" what ever that means!) nor my SSN number. Even if I gave, it would not have made a difference. i keep all 3 of my credit files frozen.

I'm speaking from personal experience but when both of the above are done, they only do soft pulls.