Understanding Clarity Services Inc. And Its Impact on Your Credit Score
Clarity Services Inc. is a branch of one of the three major consumer credit bureaus in the U.S. – Experian. They are responsible for providing credit details of consumers who fit in the subprime and near-prime credit range and have minimal or no credit history.
Clarity Services provides debt collection agencies such as finance departments of retail companies, auto financers, telecommunications services, and online lenders with additional consumer credit information.
Lenders, debt collection agencies, and creditors might opt for Clarity Services to verify a consumer’s information which includes the following elements:
- Contact details
- Employment history and income
- Bank activity
- History of credit
- Housing status
If Clarity Services, Inc. appears on your credit report, it is because you have either applied for a loan in the recent past or if you have a debt that has been sent to collections and a debt collection company is using their service to verify your details.
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Could Clarity Services Inc. be a scam?
Clarity Services Inc. is a legitimate company established in 2008, and its appearance on your credit report indicates that a creditor has hired them to conduct a credit check.
If there’s some activity on your report pertaining to Clarity Services Inc. which should not rightfully exist, there is a possibility that you have fallen victim to fraud or identity theft.
Why did Clarity Services appear on my credit report?
You may see Clarity Services on your credit report listed as an inquiry. There are two possibilities as to why you could have a Clarity Services inquiry:
1. If you’ve Applied for Credit
Prospective lenders use companies to run credit checks on debtors to decide whether they’re a good or bad credit risk and whether credit should be given to them. Inquiries appear on your credit report in two ways;
- Hard inquiry: Inquiries and checks by creditors show up on your credit report when you apply for new lines of credit. As per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, these are classified as hard inquiries which harm your credit report and scores since they indicate how regularly you apply for new debts. Recent hard inquiries are counted in a creditor’s decision-making, indicating that a recent debt has been added to your account. These debt accounts can be for an auto loan, insurance policy, credit card, mortgage, cell phone, apartment, and even a job application.
- Soft inquiries: A review of your credit report, creditors evaluating current accounts, and potential lenders pre-screening your report without your permission are known as soft inquiries on your report. As claimed by the CFPB, these inquiries do not impact your score as they indicate that you’re not in search of new credit.
2. You’ve Fallen Victim to Identity Theft
If there’s a hard inquiry on your credit report pertaining to Clarity Services Inc., which should not rightfully exist, there is a possibility that you have fallen victim to fraud or identity theft.
Take the following steps:
- Contact Clarity Services Inc., who most likely made the hard inquiry. Ask for details such as when and under what circumstances were the inquiries authorized, as shown in their records.
- Report the cybercrime to FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Generate an identity theft report and recovery plan via www.identitytheft.gov.
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report by contacting any of the three major consumer credit bureaus; Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. You may additionally want to lock or freeze your credit.
Regularly monitor your credit reports to observe any suspicious or fraudulent activity.
How will a Clarity Services inquiry impact my credit score?
There are a number of ways in which Clarity Services Inc. will have an effect on your credit score, varying from credit check inquiries to management of your account(s).
Hard inquiries
A hard inquiry is likely to have a short-term impact on your credit score, bringing the FICO score down by about five points and VantageScore by five to ten points.
However, several hard inquiries can harm your score as the effect is cumulative. The extent to which Clarity Services pull down your credit varies on your credit history and the timeliness of the inquiry.
A hard inquiry will usually result in a small decrease in your FICO and VantageScore credit scores, but this effect will not last for over a year. Furthermore, these entries do not stay on your report for more than two years.
How can I remove Clarity Services from my credit report?
Professional credit repair agencies such as Lexington Law specialize in eradicating erroneous entries and inquiries from your credit report. With over 18 years of experience, the professional credit repair service has disputed over seven million negative items in 2020.
It is advised to contact Lexington Law for a free consultation if you want to remove a collections account or dispute the following items from your credit report at the earliest.
Reach out to Clarity Services, the source for the hard inquiry, to find out about the application that caused this. All credit bureaus which have dated information regarding your credit report should be informed and disputed to investigate your claim and make the necessary updates. It typically takes a month for bureaus to look into the declaration.
You may have to write a goodwill or dispute letter addressing the creditor and elucidate why the negative entry appears on your report.
It is recommended by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that you provide a copy of your report with the error highlighted. It is also necessary to provide important documentation while filing a dispute to support your claim.
Monitoring your credit using fee-based services or acquiring a copy of your complete credit report annually from annualcreditreport.com will help you deal with potential fraud and identity theft cases.
Keep a close eye out for scammers, as credit restoration companies are not permitted to charge you before offering their services. If you are asked to pay upfront, consider hiring a different company to do the work for you.
Takeaway
The credit reporting agency Clarity Services Inc. conducts credit checks for creditors and lenders. If it appears to be on your credit reports, it means that you have applied for new credit or your potential creditors have hired Clarity Service Inc. to determine your creditworthiness. A hard inquiry appearing on your report as a result of their services is temporary and will automatically disappear after two years. However, it can cause a minor drop in your credit score.
Furthermore, Clarity Services Inc can be removed from your report if it has been mistakenly added by credit bureaus by disputing the error with the concerned consumer credit bureau or getting assistance from a credit restoration company.
