Factual Data on your credit report: what this inquiry means

Who Factual Data is

Factual Data supplies mortgage lenders with merged credit reports, prequalification and preapproval reports, and debt monitoring between application and closing. It pulls your data from the bureaus for each order and says it doesn't maintain a database from which new credit reports are generated. CBCInnovis, a mortgage credit provider that had been a Factual Data affiliate since 2015, took the Factual Data name in a 2019 brand unification, so older inquiries and older paperwork may still say CBC or CBCInnovis.

Is it a hard or soft inquiry?

A merged report pulled for a loan you applied for is a hard inquiry. Factual Data's product list also includes prequalification reports, and lenders often run prequalification as a soft check, but the lender chooses how to code each order. Ask the loan officer which one you're getting before you authorize it.

Why it showed up on your report

A lender, broker or bank that uses Factual Data's system ordered your report for a home loan. Factual Data's consumer page says that when a client requests your report through its system, the inquiry may show up as Factual Data instead of the client's name.

Why it can show more than once

Expect one entry per bureau from a single merged pull. A second set weeks later usually lines up with a credit update before closing or with a second lender you talked to during the same home search.

How to check that you authorized it

1. Check whether the date matches a mortgage application, preapproval or refinance quote.
2. Call Factual Data Consumer Assistance and ask which client ordered the report on that date.
3. If the client named is a company you never contacted, use Factual Data's inquiry dispute form and include that client's name.

How to reach Factual Data

Use Factual Data's credit report request form (a PDF on its consumer assistance page) if a lender ordered your report through Factual Data, then return it by mail to the address above or call 877-237-8317. For a current report not tied to a lender's order, Factual Data points you to the bureaus and AnnualCreditReport.com.

Guides that go deeper

• How mortgage preapproval shows up on your creditA mortgage preapproval usually means a hard pull from all three bureaus. Why one lender shows up three times, how shopping is scored, and what to avoid.
• Rate shopping for a loan without wrecking your credit scoreFICO counts mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries made within 14 to 45 days as one. The three rules, a worked timeline, and what isn't covered.
• Removing hard inquiries you didn't authorize, the legitimate wayAn inquiry you never authorized can be disputed, and one from fraud can be blocked. One you did authorize can't. How to sort them and fix each kind.
• Hard vs. soft inquiries: which credit checks count against youA hard inquiry comes from a credit application and can trim your score. A soft one never does. A table of the common checks, gray zones included.