Multiple Credit Pulls on Single Application

[mreynolds767]

I don't want this to come across as accusatorily ; just asking if anyone else experienced something similar.

Mid May I purchased a Y, applied and was approved for Telsa's .99% financing ; Santander is the bank. Only took a couple minutes for the approval and I accepted the terms right away.
The following couple days I started getting alerts about credit inquiries from monitoring services. I thought it was just them repeatedly notifying me about the Santander credit pull.

But then I started getting letters from multiple banks basically saying the same thing. We received your application but denied it because we were unable to verify your identification. Bank of America, US Bank & Wells Fargo. I called each of them to say it was not me.
Downloaded a credit report and see 6 hard pulls on my credit all from the 15 - 21st of May from different banks. Nothing after May 21
No new credit showing, sounds like someone stole my identity (has my SSN# and my address) but must not have all of my correct information?
I froze my credit at the 3: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and hope that is the end of it.
Have never had something like this happen and other than the Tesla application have not applied for any type of credit in the past 12 months.

I am not sure if Telsa sent the application to so many banks? and the multiple pulls are all just for the 1 application?
Could be total coincidence ; otherwise my information seems to have been compromised in some manner when I applied online.
If my identity was stolen why did the thieves stop applying?

Anyway my credit score dropped about 50 points due to so many pulls from over 800 to in the 700's.
Still have not taken delivery of the car (no VIN yet) so I assume I will need to unfreeze my credit for the loan with Santander to actually open but not sure?

Worried if I don't get my car before 60 days pass I will need to reapply for the .99 offer to remain valid and at that time Santander may not approve me since my score has dropped significantly.

Plus of course worried there may be accounts actually opened successfully but not showing on my credit report yet, the Santander one which I was approved for only shows as a pull not an account opened.

 

[jjrandorin]

Anyway my credit score dropped about 50 points due to so many pulls from over 800 to in the 700's.

Actually, no, that wouldnt be it. All credit applications in about a 2 week span for a car loan are treated as one hard pull for the credit score algorithms, even though they will all show up. that drop in your credit score is because of the one approved application / loan and will go back up afterwards.

It absolutely was not because you got multiple car applications at once, as long as they were within a 2 week timeframe.

Note that I am talking about your REAL credit score, not anything like "credit karma" or any other such thing. I am assuming you are talking about your real score, not one of those (which are not the real score, but approximations.

 

[ucmndd]

I saw multiple hard pulls for my application back in August of last year as well, though not as many as you. Tesla farms out your app to a bunch of different banks as they don't do direct financing themselves.

I agree with @jjrandorin that this isn't really an issue. Credit bureaus understand "shopping around" behavior and have long ago adjusted their scoring algorithms to account for time-bound clusters of inquiries. Your score would have dropped by essentially the same "50 points" for one pull as it did for six.

Don't worry about it.

 

[jjrandorin]

I should clarify that my comments are for application types that the credit bureau's know people shop around for (or should be shopping around for), which are primarily auto loans and mortgage loans.

Revolving credit (credit cards, either store credit cards or visa / mastercard etc types), do not fit into what I said above, and each hard pull from them is handled separately (and ding your credit score separately). In fact, applying for a bunch of different revolving credit at once can be really hard on your credit score, so its best to only apply for those if it makes sense, and you havent done one recently.

 

[mreynolds767]

Ok good to know ; the original score was based on what was written in the letter from one of the banks I got at the house so I assume accurate at that time.
The new lowered score is from one of the free credit card provided tools so more an approximate number I understand.

Excellent news that one hard inquiry or six all within a week or so is roughly the same thing that eliminates that fear.
Is odd ; given the timing and the Santander hit was the only one dated the 15th / was approved same day so no reason for additional queries after this.

I am still unsure if this was part of the loan application process or a stolen identity issue

When I called none of the banks could tell me what kind of application it was for. Could have been this auto loan or could have credit card attempts.

 

[jjrandorin]

Ok good to know ; the original score was based on what was written in the letter from one of the banks I got at the house so I assume accurate at that time.
The new lowered score is from one of the free credit card provided tools so more an approximate number I understand.

Excellent news that one hard inquiry or six all within a week or so is roughly the same thing that eliminates that fear.
Is odd ; given the timing and the Santander hit was the only one dated the 15th / was approved same day so no reason for additional queries after this.

I am still unsure if this was part of the loan application process or a stolen identity issue

When I called none of the banks could tell me what kind of application it was for. Could have been this auto loan or could have credit card attempts.

I think its a very good thing to be diligent about your credit, credit score, etc. My guess is, in your case they are all auto loan applications, but it does not hurt in the slightest to keep your eyes open.

The flow of your story sounds like Tesla did multiple applications for you (keep in mind that this is normal, and its what a traditional car dealer would do as well unless you are leasing a car and qualify for incentives through their captive finance arm, like toyota motor credit, BMW financial, etc).

Tesla doesnt have a captive financial arm (or they didnt, anyway.. I dont follow this closely), so they apply to multiple banks to try to both get you the best rate and perhaps themselves also the best deal on sourcing your loan.

All normal, but, still, its a great idea to keep your eyes open and see if anything becomes of those applications. I doubt it, but doesnt hurt to keep your eyes open as I mentioned. It will probably take a bit for any open credit line to appear on the 3 credit bureaus. I have seen it take like 2-3 months for something to appear on my credit score at one of the bureau's before.

 

[mreynolds767]

Just to update the thread and in case anyone else runs into something like this.
Turns out in my case it was not a loan app through multiple banks ; but something more nefarious.

Received 2 more bank letters also not approving the applications but asking for either Income information or similar confirming details before they make a decision; difference is both letters state what the app was for and it is a credit card on both.
Will call both banks tomorrow morning but assume they will not tell me anything to help me solve who may be trying to steal my identity but that is clearly what is going on.

I believe Telsa only sent the app to 1 bank ; Santander who approved it. After that my information somehow got stolen.

Hope my freeze prevents the theives from opening anything in my name.
Not sure how long all of those hard inquiries for a credit card are going to take to clear off my credit report.

 

[shyboy]

Just to update the thread and in case anyone else runs into something like this.
Turns out in my case it was not a loan app through multiple banks ; but something more nefarious.

Received 2 more bank letters also not approving the applications but asking for either Income information or similar confirming details before they make a decision; difference is both letters state what the app was for and it is a credit card on both.
Will call both banks tomorrow morning but assume they will not tell me anything to help me solve who may be trying to steal my identity but that is clearly what is going on.

I believe Telsa only sent the app to 1 bank ; Santander who approved it. After that my information somehow got stolen.

Hope my freeze prevents the theives from opening anything in my name.
Not sure how long all of those hard inquiries for a credit card are going to take to clear off my credit report.

you can dispute those inquires, and they should be able to remove it from your credit file.

 

[mreynolds767]

you can dispute those inquires, and they should be able to remove it from your credit file.

Yes, I have talked to each of the banks about this and they each said they would ; I assume it will take a couple months to clear off though.
Not really sure, turns out there about 12 not the 6 I originally thought as some banks got multiple applications.