Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: Is CBCInnovis showing up on your credit report? Here's SoloSuit's on how to remove CBCInnovis from your credit report.

Have you applied for a loan or line of credit in the recent past? If so, you may see CBCInnovis on your credit report. They are a credit reporting agency that helps banks, lenders, and other financial institutions vet applicants.

When you apply for a mortgage or loan, CBCInnovis gains access to your credit report, gathers crucial information, and gives the data to the lender you approached. CBCInnovis recently merged with Factual Data, and you may see the entry on your credit report as either CBCInnovis or Factual Data. Other services they offer include:

Identity verification
Fraud prevention
ID authentication
Skip tracing data

Having several entries by CBCInnovis on your credit report can harm your credit score. You should also confirm that the entries genuinely came from a recent activity from you and not a case of identity theft. To assist you with the process, we'll inform you of your consumer rights, how a CBCInnovis entry affects your credit score, and how to remove and improve it.

How do I know when CBCInnovis violates my consumer rights?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the federal law that governs how CBCInnovis collects and reports information about consumers. The law covers how a consumer's sensitive credit information is acquired, the period it is kept, and how it is shared. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Fair Trade Commission oversee and enforce these laws. According to FCRA laws, you have a right to:

Receive one free credit report annually
Be informed when your credit information is used against you
Verify the information that the CBCInnovis reported is accurate
Dispute with CBCInnovis on an entry that is incomplete or inaccurate
Have outdated negative information removed from your report
Sue for damages when CBCInnovis violates the law

Report to FTC, CFPB, or your attorney general's office if CBCInnovis violates any laws. You can also sue them if you have overwhelming evidence that CBCInnovis violated the law. The penalty for each violation carries a fine of between $100 to $1000 and any attorney's fees you might incur.

How does an inquiry from CBCInnovis affect my credit score?

Several CBCInnovis or Factual Data inquiries negatively affect your credit score, causing lenders to question your ability to pay a new loan. These financial institutions will assess your level of financial responsibility from the inquiries made. There are two types of credit inquiry: hard inquiry and soft inquiry. Let us discuss each in detail.

Hard inquiries decrease your score

Hard inquiry or hard pulls occurs when you request significant financial assistance or a new line of credit. For example, if you apply for a new credit card, the card company will request CBCInnovis to pull your credit file, and you will see a hard inquiry by CBCInnovis on your credit report instead of the card company.

These inquiries should not take you by surprise because companies should request permission to perform a hard inquiry. Common hard inquiries include:

Mortgage application
Car loan or other loan application
Phone or utility application
Credit card applications
Rental application

According to Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), a hard inquiry can lower your credit score by 5–10 points. Several inquiries for different lines of credit cumulatively lower your score further. If you are rate shopping for a mortgage, student loan, or auto loan, FICO recommends you perform rate-shopping within a 14–30 day period so that it is recorded as a single inquiry.

Hard Inquiries remain on your credit report for 1 to 2 years, depending on the credit company. But it lowers your credit score in the first 12 months only.

Soft inquiries don't affect your score

Soft inquiries or soft pulls occur when companies view your credit file as a background check and pre-approval for a credit offer. Most soft inquiries occur without your permission, although some companies may inform you. Examples of soft inquiries include:

Insurance quotes
Employer credit checks
Preapproved credit card and loans offers
Credit limit increases
Credit monitoring services

Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score as they are not indicative of a serious financial commitment.

How can I eliminate CBCInnovis from my credit report?

Removing a genuine hard inquiry you consented to may be impossible. Hard inquiries are a legal and mandatory process for any significant credit application. You can successfully request for a CBCInnovis hard inquiry removal from your credit report if you:

Have not applied for a new line of credit or loan
Did not consent to a hard inquiry
Suspect you are a victim of identity theft

Begin the process by requesting your credit report from the three credit bureaus. Thoroughly review each report and highlight the questionable hard inquiries you want to dispute. Next, send, upload, or email a dispute letter with the highlighted pages to TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.

Once the credit bureaus receive your dispute letter, they will investigate and remove the inquiry within 30 days if the evidence supports your claims. To support your case further, you can contact CBCInnovis to get more information about the hard inquiry and attach it to the dispute letter.

How can I improve my credit score after CBCInnovis' hard inquiry?

As stated earlier, CBCInnovis' hard inquiry negatively affects your credit score, reducing your chances of getting financial assistance in the future. To prevent your score from plummeting further, you can take the following steps to stabilize and improve your score:

Take time before applying for a new loan: Wait for at least six months before making a new application. At the same time, check if the old inquiries have dropped.
Validate pending debt and pay off: Send a Debt Validation Letter to confirm the debt on your credit report is rightfully yours. After the creditor verifies the debt, request a pay-for-delete agreement. The creditor will remove the debt from your credit report once you pay.
Make credit line payments on time and do not allow delayed payments to go beyond 30 days, or they will be included on your credit report.
Avoid new credit cards and keep old credit card accounts: New credit cards inquiry lowers your score further. Closing old accounts usually raise red flags from lenders.

What if I've been sued for debt?

SoloSuit can also help you respond to a debt lawsuit by sending an Answer to the debt collector whose debt entry lowered your credit report. Our other legal documents will also help you in the case process. For instance, you can use our Debt Settlement Letter to request the collection agency settle the case outside of court.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

Get Started

We have answers.
Join our community of over 40,000 people.

You can ask your questions on the SoloSuit forum and the community will help you out. Whether you need help now or are just looking for support, we're here for you.

Ask a Question

>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate