question about credit/credit scores

[Reverend Conehead]

My roommate has good credit because he's a stickler for making sure all his bills get paid on time. However, that credit has recently taken a hit, and a very unfair one at that. He has a deadbeat friend with lousy credit who is attempting to buy a car. We'll call my roommate Reggie and his deadbeat friend Otto. So Otto came up with the sheer genius idea of using Reggie as a co-signer for a car loan. This was his idea that Reggie knew nothing about. So he submits his name and information to a crooked car loan company, claiming he can get a co-sign, something Reggie has never agreed to. So they run Reggie's credit report over and over, attempting to get an approval for the unwanted co-sign, but fail to do so. They ran it something like 12 times, which in itself is absurd. It's a crooked company that takes people for a ride. However, now Reggie has been informed that all that activity is actually hurting his credit score. And that's totally unjust because he never authorized any of this. He has no intention of co-signing for Otta and never has.

So my question is this: Can Reggie dispute these hits to his credit score on the grounds that he never authorized any of these multiple credit checks? His credit used to suck due to things that happened in the 90s and early 2000s, and he's done a lot of work to rehab it. Today he's qualified for credit cards and a house loan. Now his credit is threatened due to something he did not do and did not authorize anyone doing.

 

[Tabascocat]

Otto committed fraud and maybe the dealership. Did he forge Reggie's name? If so, Otto is the one at fault and nothing will happen to the dealership even if they suspected he forged his name, can't prove that. Court would be too expensive and a waste of time, they can't help with the credit score.

If the dealership ran checks without a signature on a promise of gaining a signature, then call the BBB.

When shopping for cars, your score takes on a one time credit hit, that is why it is best to do it all in one day. I think we lose a few points when dealers run our score but nothing more if all done in a timely manner. This may be urban myth but is what I have heard.

This dealership must have ran it over a week a couple of times a day to really affect the score.

Reggie needs to contact all three of the credit bureau's and they will walk him through a very long, drawn out process to repair it. By the time he is finished with that, his credit score will most likely be back to normal without all that extra work. The hits he took are most likely insignificant anyways.

Reggie can try and sue Otto but by the sound of it, Reggie will spend way more than he would get back from Otto. Now, if the dealership knowingly did this without a signature, court might be a good idea.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Bad deal. Wish I had a solution for you Otto...sorry, Reggie...wait, WHICH one are you again!?

 

[Kevinicus]

Otto shouldn't have allowed Reggir access to information to run a credit check.

 

[Shunpike]

Why did Otto gave his personal to Reggie in the first place. Forget about BBB.

Find a lawyer, sue Reggie and the car company and demand big money.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

When you run a credit check for a car loan it typically gives you free reign to check it multiple times over a period of time. 1-2 weeks I believe.
You have all of the info to give to the bank/ loan institution so no reason to do it multiple times unless you are going to multiple dealerships. Even then many people do not buy a car from the first dealership they visit.
His credit would not be drastically effected by that.

Something else is going on, and why in the hell would this "friend" have enough of his info to use him as a co-signer without his knowledge ?

Fishy.