If you recently had financial dealings with Badcock Home Furniture &more, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’ve shown up on your credit report. But you may be wondering about the implications—does their mark hurt your credit? For how long?
We explain the effects of Badcock Credit below, and how to get it off your report if you didn’t do business with them.
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What is Badcock Credit on my credit report?
Badcock Credit is a mark that can appear on your credit report when you visit Badcock Home Furniture &more.
Badcock Home Furniture &more is a home goods retailer owned by the W.S. Badcock Corporation. They provide several financing options for customers, including no-interest financing and alternative financing for customers with poor credit. 1
If you see Badcock Credit on your credit report, you probably applied for or opened a line of credit with Badcock Home Furniture &more. (Note that if you applied for financing or a payment plan on a Badcock purchase, that technically counts as a line of credit.)
Is Badcock Credit a scam?
No, Badcock Credit isn’t a scam—Badcock Home Furniture is a legitimate organization. If their name is on your credit report, it probably indicates that you applied for financing with them at some point and they checked your credit.
If you’re certain that there’s activity on your credit report under Badcock Credit that shouldn’t be there, it’s possible you’ve been the victim of identity theft.
We’ll discuss the reasons (both legitimate and fraudulent) that Badcock Credit might be on your credit report in more detail in the next section.
Why is Badcock Credit on my credit report?
Badcock Credit can appear on your credit report for a number of reasons, some negative and some harmless. Here are the four most common reasons why Badcock Credit might appear on your credit report:
1. Badcock Home Furniture checked your credit
You’ll see Badcock Credit on your credit report if Badcock Home Furniture ran a credit check to determine whether or not to provide you with financing (e.g., a payment plan allowing you to pay for their products or services in installments, which essentially means they let you make a purchase on credit).
This type of check can appear as a hard inquiry or as a soft inquiry.
- Hard inquiries: These generally appear on your credit report when you apply for new credit, such as credit cards or installment loans. For example, Badcock Credit will show up on your credit report if you actively applied for financing from Badcock Home Furniture.
- Soft inquiries: These show up on your credit report when someone checks your credit but you’re not actually looking to open a new credit account. For example, if you received an unsolicited offer letter in the mail for credit from Badcock Home Furniture, then they may have triggered a soft inquiry during the prequalification process.
Thankfully, soft inquiries don’t affect your credit score. On the other hand, hard inquiries usually lower your credit score by a few points, but the effect won’t last more than a year, and the inquiry will fall off your credit report entirely after two years. Note that you usually can’t remove a hard inquiry early unless the bureau added it to your report by mistake.
2. You have a Badcock Home Furniture credit account
Badcock Credit will appear on your credit report if you currently have or previously had a Badcock Home Furniture credit account (i.e., if you financed a purchase from them). Even if you’ve completely paid off your purchase, Badcock Credit can stay on your credit report for 7 years (if you missed payments or defaulted on your payment plan) or 10 years (if you always paid on time).
3. You’re a victim of identity theft
If you see a Badcock Credit hard inquiry on your credit report but you’re sure you didn’t apply for financing from Badcock Home Furniture, it could be a sign of identity theft.
If you suspect that someone’s trying to fraudulently open credit accounts in your name, take these steps:
- Contact the company that made the hard inquiry (Badcock Home Furniture). Tell them you didn’t authorize the inquiry. Ask them for details (i.e., when and under what circumstances their records show the credit check was authorized).
- Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Go to www.identitytheft.gov and answer the questions to generate an identity theft report and recovery plan.
- Contact any of the three main credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) and have a fraud alert placed on your credit report. You only need to contact one of the bureaus; they’ll coordinate with the others, and your fraud alert will be acknowledged by all three.
You may also want to freeze your credit (or get a credit lock, which is very similar).
Carefully monitor your credit reports over the next few months for further signs of fraudulent activity.
How does Badcock Credit affect my credit score?
There are several ways that Badcock Credit can affect your credit score, depending on whether it’s been reported as an inquiry or an actual credit account.
Hard inquiries
As mentioned, a single hard inquiry will have a small, short-term effect on your credit, usually lowering your FICO score by up to five points and your VantageScore credit score by 5–10 points.
This effect is usually cumulative, so too many hard inquiries can really hurt your score. However, a single inquiry isn’t something to worry about—your credit score ranges from 300 to 850, which means 5 points in either direction isn’t significant.
Open and closed accounts
If you have an open or closed Badcock Home Furniture account on your credit report, then it’s contributing to your credit score by influencing the following factors:
If the account is open, then it’s also contributing to your credit utilization rate (also known as your debt-to-credit ratio).
To learn how your Badcock Home Furniture account will affect your credit score, familiarize yourself with the factors that make up your FICO score and VantageScore.
How to remove Badcock Credit from my credit report
If you want to delete Badcock Credit from your credit report, then try one of the following approaches.
1. Send a dispute letter
If you see an item listed under Badcock Credit on your credit report that you suspect is a mistake, then you can dispute it by sending a dispute letter to Badcock Home Furniture and/or the credit bureaus.
Send your letter to Badcock Home Furniture if you believe the error originated with them (e.g., they reported a late payment when you actually paid on time). Send it to the credit bureaus if you believe they made the mistake (e.g., they confused you with someone with a similar name or Social Security number).
Either way, it’s usually a good idea to send copies of the letter to both parties (the bureaus and Badcock Home Furniture). They may contact each other as they investigate the matter, and it’s important to make sure everybody has received the relevant information.
Once you’ve filed your dispute, the credit bureau will be required to investigate and correct any inaccurate information on your report, usually within 30–45 days.
2. Use a credit repair company
A credit repair company will act as a middleman between yourself and your creditors (and the credit bureaus). They might be able to get a hard inquiry or other Badcock Credit item off your credit report by helping you gather evidence and handling all the required communication.
However, be wary of scammers. By law, credit repair companies are not allowed to charge you before they’ve helped you. If they ask for payment upfront, hire a different company.
Although hiring a credit repair company can save you some time and hassle in disputing items on your credit report, bear in mind that they can’t do anything for you that you can’t do yourself.
They also won’t necessarily be able to erase valid negative information or turn a bad credit score into a good credit score overnight. Think carefully before hiring a third-party company to get Badcock Credit off your credit report.
