How to Remove a Name Permanently From Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers
Unsolicited credit offers are received every day. Your mailbox is filled with junk mail that contains offers for credit cards, satellite, alternative Internet access, insurance and a host of other products and services. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows you to stop this aggravation permanently. The credit bureaus sell consumer lists to companies that buys leads, so the credit bureaus are where you have to start.
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Things You'll Need
- Internet access or a phone
- Full name and Social Security numbers of all involved people
Instructions
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Check your junk mail to see whose name is being solicited. If you are married, the prescreened offers could be for one spouse or for both of you. You will need the full name and Social Security number of every person in your home that should be removed from the credit bureaus' solicitation lists.
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Go online to the Optoutprescreen website, (see Resources below) and follow directions to permanently remove your name (as well as anyone else in your household that should be removed). There will be an offer to remove you name temporarily for five years, but you want to select being removed for a lifetime. (Print off the signature form, one for each person, to mail in for the lifetime request.). This will permanently take your name (and the names of other persons in your household) off of the leads lists that credit bureaus sell to companies who solicit business.
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Call the national "Opt Out" phone number if you do not have Internet access. Call (888) 567-8688 and follow the prompts to opt out for a lifetime. You will need to request a signature form for each person that is "opting out," which will be sent to you. When the form arrives, fill in the needed information and mail it back to the address provided.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have opted out and would like to be placed back on the solicitation list, instructions on Optoutprescreen.com will show you how to accomplish this.
A lot of inquiries will injure your credit scores. If you wish to see who has inquired into your credit, you can get your credit reports (one time per year for free) to check credit activities. Go to annualcreditreport.com, and follow directions. (See Resources below)
