Often time when people want to get a car, they do not have the cash ready but make the purchase on loan/credit. The credit can either be financed by the dealership or a third-party lender.
Before credit can be financed, there will be a need to pull credit. It could be once or multiple times depending on who is financing it. If a dealership runs your credit multiple times, what should you do?
If a car dealership runs your credit multiple times, you can dispute it by informing the credit bureau because running your credit multiple times can lower your credit score and affect your mortgage rate.
Can the Car Dealership Run My Credit Multiple Times?
Yes, a car dealership can run your credit multiple times and for various reasons, but this is highly unlikely except under certain circumstances.
When a car dealership runs your credit, they are simply checking to know your credit history in order to determine if you are eligible to get a car loan before the whole process begins and gets finalized.
Why Does Car Dealership Run My Credit Multiple Times?
One of the many reasons why a car dealership may want to run your credit multiple times may be because they are shopping your credit profile around. They want to know your payment history and if you have any outstanding debt.
A credit profile contains information about a person’s credit history. It is often time used by lenders to determine if a person has a good credit track record.
Therefore, a car dealership can run your credit multiple times if it is with the intention of checking your creditworthiness.
What to do When Car Dealership Ran My Credit Multiple Times?
If a car dealership running your credit multiple times isn’t what you want, you can stop or avoid it by doing any of the following;
- Check to know if you meet the required loan rate. This will help you know beforehand if you will qualify or be approved for the loan.
- Get your credit report in advance, it is free. This can be gotten from any of the credit bureaus.
- Within a period of two weeks, apply for auto loans
- You can as well monitor the credit report. This should be done regularly in order to ensure you are abreast and on top of all credit inquiries. To stay on top of credit inquiries, get a copy of your credit. report
What Happens If Car Dealership Ran My Credit Multiple Times?
When a car dealership runs your credit, it is possible that you get worried because you do not know what that means for you, whether it’s going to affect you negatively or positively. If it will have any effect depends on whether it is a soft or hard inquiry.
Soft inquiries are said to be a non-formal form of credit application, it could be a person requesting their own credit record. While the hard inquiry is when a person formally applies for a credit, in which case it can be on your credit record for up to 2 years.
Here are a few things that may likely happen if a car dealership runs your credit multiple times;
- You Can Have a Lower Credit Score: You are likely to have a lower credit score if a car dealership runs your credit multiple times, although it doesn’t happen all the time. A lower score is often an aftereffect of hard inquiries, this is because hard inquiries remain on your report for close to 2 years. If your score reduces, you have a slim chance of qualifying for credit.
- It Can Affect Your Mortgage Rate: Multiple credits run by car dealerships may also affect your mortgage, however, this is not applicable in all cases, only for those that are trying to get a house alongside a car loan.
How Many Times Can You Pull Your Credit for a Car?
The person buying a car is not responsible for pulling credit, pulling credit can either be done by the car dealership if they are financing or by a third-party lender.
If the car dealership is standing as the lender, your credit can only be pulled one time according to what the credit application permits. Since the credit is being pulled one time in this case, a single inquiry will appear in the credit report.
On the other hand, if a third-party lender is financing and not the dealership, the credit can be pulled multiple times. In the case of a third-party lender, the dealership will serve as a middleman to help the buyer get the best rate.
In order to get the best rate, the dealership does what is called a ‘rate shop’. Rate shop means the dealership compares the various prices lenders are offering and settle for the one with the best rate for the buyer. Hence, the need to pull credit many times.
It is, therefore, safe to say that if you are applying for credit with a car dealership you should expect your credit to be pulled up to 10 times or more in a bid for the dealership to get the best financial terms.
Do Multiple Credit Inquiries Count as One?
Multiple credit inquiries do not always count as one, howbeit, in a situation where you are shopping for a new utility provider or mortgage loans, the multiple inquiries may count as one for a stipulated time. The period for which the multiple inquiries count for one is between 14 – 45 days.
Within this period, you are expected to check and find a lender with the best loan terms that you can work with.
How Do I Dispute Multiple Inquiries on My Credit Report?
There may be a need to dispute multiple inquiries on your credit report, one reason for doing this may be that you didn’t authorize the hard inquiries.
To dispute multiple credit report inquiries, the credit bureau should be informed as they are in the best position to investigate and correct inaccurate information.
Inform any of the credit bureaus by filing for dispute, this can either be done online or at the office. If you are going for the online option, you should consider sending a mail as this have a high tendency of getting quick attention.
The credit bureau proceeds to investigate your claim, if found true, the multiple inquiries will be removed from your credit report.
Conclusion
If you want to avoid having multiple inquiries on your credit report, you should do your due diligence by checking for a suitable loan rate before approaching the car dealership.