Legal for Financial Institution to run credit report w/o permission?

[mchockey98]

I recently received some paperwork from my financial institution/bank regarding identity protection. Included in this was a copy of my credit report along with the score from the big 3 credit reporting agencies. This was run WITHOUT my permission? Is this legal and if not, am I allowed to pursue a suit against them? Any info would be great. Thanks.

 

[tpajet]

Yes it is legal, however these types of inquiries so not affect your credit score. Anytime you get pre-approved credit card offers where you don't have to give any info, they have already run your credit. But there is a an area on your report for these types of inquiries, and they won't affect you score at all.

If you want, you can contact the credit bureaus and have them lock your credit, so that nobody can make an inquiry without you calling the bureau first to authorize it. It can make it harder when applying for credit, only because you have to make the call, so it slows the process down a bit, but on the up side, it also helps prevent ID theft, since someone cannot go open an acount in your name without you authorizing it.