You can legally look up someone's credit score when the law gives you a reason to, and the simplest reason is their OK. Here's where the line sits, with real scenarios, the actual penalties, and how to get consent right.
Most loan leads arrive as a name and a phone number, and half the name is usually misspelled. Here's how lenders turn that phone number into a soft-pull pre-qualification, with the borrower's OK, before the first callback.
Both kinds of credit check read the same file. What changes is why it was opened, who can see that it happened, and whether the score moves. Plus the rate-shopping rule that trips up most mortgage borrowers.
One phone number goes in. A name, a current address, phone details and a real FICO Score 4 come out. Here's what happens in the ten seconds between, and what the results actually mean.
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Name, current address and real FICO® Score 4 from TransUnion data. Results in seconds. As low as $9.99.
