Running a credit check
Question: I was contacted by a collection agency to collect a debt that I was totally unaware of and may not be liable for.
I told them I would not discuss any payment arrangements until they could prove that I actually owed any money.
In their preparations of collecting information about the debt, they ran a credit check on my credit report. Are they authorized to do that without my permission?
Answer: No-one is allowed to run a credit check on you without your permission. However, when you originally applied for the credit, you probably signed a form giving them permission to check your credit. Of course, if you didn’t apply for credit, then they should not have run a credit report on you.