A Factual Data inquiry on your credit report almost always means you applied for a mortgage. Factual Data is a mortgage credit reporting company. Lenders hire it to pull your reports from the credit bureaus and combine them into one report for the loan file, so the inquiry carries Factual Data’s name instead of the lender’s.
The good news: your Experian report often names the lender. In SmartDispute’s data, Experian frequently listed Factual Data inquiries as FD/ followed by the lender, such as FD/ROCKET MORTGAGE, while Equifax and TransUnion usually showed only FACTUAL DATA. This guide explains how to read those entries, how mortgage inquiries affect your score, and what to do if you don’t recognize one.
Key Takeaways
- Factual Data pulls credit reports for mortgage lenders. The inquiry usually means a lender checked your credit for a home loan or refinance.
- On Experian, look for FD/ followed by the lender’s name. Equifax and TransUnion usually show only FACTUAL DATA.
- Mortgage lenders often check more than one bureau. In our data, most Factual Data applications appeared on at least two reports the same day.
- Scoring models count mortgage shopping within a short window as one inquiry.
- If you don’t recognize the inquiry, ask Factual Data which lender ordered it, then ask that lender for its permissible purpose.
What Is Factual Data?
Factual Data is a credit reporting agency that serves lenders. In its own words, it “provides credit information from Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) to its clients, which are primarily banks, mortgage companies and other lending institutions” (Factual Data).
When you apply for a mortgage, the lender usually wants your reports from all three bureaus merged into one, so it can see every account side by side. Companies like Factual Data, CoreLogic Credco, and Xactus do that work. Each bureau then records an inquiry from the company that requested the report, which is why you see Factual Data rather than your lender.
Factual Data shares a parent company, CBC Companies, with the Innovis credit bureau. CBCInnovis, an older CBC credit reporting brand, merged with Factual Data in 2019.
How Factual Data Appears on Your Credit Report
These are the versions that appeared in SmartDispute’s data:
| Bureau | What you’ll see |
|---|---|
| Experian | FACTUAL DATA, or FD/ plus the lender’s name, such as FD/ROCKET MORTGAGE or FD/CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGA |
| Equifax | FACTUAL DATA, FACTUAL DATA CONSUME, or FACTUAL DATA, INC, and occasionally an FD/ lender name |
| TransUnion | FACTUAL DATA |
The FD/ entries are the most useful. In our data they named mortgage lenders and banks including Rocket Mortgage, CrossCountry Mortgage, NorthPointe Bank, DHI Mortgage, PrimeLending, Better Mortgage, Fifth Third Bank, and M&T Bank. If your Equifax or TransUnion report shows a FACTUAL DATA inquiry, check your Experian report for an FD/ entry with the same date. It often tells you which lender was behind both.
One gap to know about: none of the Factual Data inquiries on Equifax in our data listed an address. Use the contact information below instead.
Which Credit Bureaus Does Factual Data Pull?
SmartDispute’s de-identified data on 14,326 hard inquiries from 590 members, who each had reports from all three bureaus (inquiries dated January 2023 through September 2026), included 146 Factual Data inquiries from 38 members:
| Credit bureau | Share of Factual Data inquiries |
|---|---|
| Experian | 44% |
| Equifax | 32% |
| TransUnion | 24% |
What stands out is how often one application reached more than one bureau:
- On 72% of the days a member had a Factual Data inquiry, it appeared on at least two bureaus, and on 29% it appeared on all three.
- Of the 38 members, 14 saw Factual Data on all three reports, 14 on two, and 10 on one.
- That fits how mortgage underwriting works: lenders typically review your reports from more than one bureau, so one application can leave two or three inquiries.
These are patterns from a small group of members, not rules. Your own reports are the only reliable record of where an inquiry appears.
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Get started! How It WorksDoes a Factual Data Inquiry Hurt Your Credit Score?
A hard inquiry can lower your score a little, but scoring models give mortgage shoppers room to compare lenders. FICO counts multiple mortgage inquiries within a 45-day window as one (14 days for older versions), and VantageScore groups them within 14 days. Our guide to how hard inquiries affect your credit score explains the details.
So two or three Factual Data inquiries from the same day, or several mortgage inquiries from lenders you compared within a few weeks, usually count as one search for scoring.
Is a Factual Data Inquiry Legitimate?
Usually, yes. If you applied for a mortgage, a refinance, or a home equity loan, or asked a lender for a preapproval that required a credit check, a Factual Data inquiry is expected. The lender’s application gives it a permissible purpose to check your credit through Factual Data.
A Factual Data inquiry deserves a closer look when:
- You haven’t applied for a mortgage, refinance, or home equity loan.
- The lender named in an FD/ entry is one you never contacted.
- Inquiries keep appearing well after you closed on your loan or stopped shopping.
- You believe someone may have applied in your name.
How to Dispute a Factual Data Inquiry
Inquiries follow a different order than other credit report disputes. Start with the company behind the inquiry, then involve the credit bureau. With Factual Data, that means two steps before the bureau:
- Find out which lender ordered the report. Check your Experian report for an FD/ entry with the same date. If there isn’t one, contact Factual Data and ask which client requested your report.
- Write to that lender. Ask it to identify the application behind the inquiry and the permissible purpose it relied on. Don’t include ID or your Social Security number.
- Wait 35 days from the date you mailed it.
- Dispute with each credit bureau reporting the inquiry if the lender doesn’t respond or can’t connect the inquiry to you. Attach a copy of your letter as an exhibit.
The letters for each step are in Free Inquiry Dispute Letters That Work, and we explain why this order works in How to Remove Hard Inquiries From Your Credit Report.
If you’re certain the inquiry came from identity theft, there’s a faster route: an identity theft report and a block under Section 605B of the FCRA, which we cover in our guide to permissible purpose.
Disputing an Error in a Factual Data Report
Factual Data’s merged report is built from the bureaus’ data, so the law treats Factual Data as a reseller. When you dispute with a reseller, it must determine within five business days whether the error is its own. If it is, it must correct or delete the information within 20 days. If it isn’t, it must pass your dispute to each bureau that supplied the information (15 U.S.C. 1681i(f)).
In practice, most errors in a Factual Data report are fixed at the source. If an account, late payment, or balance is wrong, dispute it with Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion and with the company that reported it. Correcting it there also fixes the next merged report a lender pulls.
How to Contact Factual Data
| Purpose | Contact |
|---|---|
| Phone | (877) 237-8317 |
| Request a copy of a report a lender pulled through Factual Data | Factual Data, PO Box 530090, Atlanta, GA 30353 |
| Dispute inaccurate or incomplete information | Factual Data, PO Box 530245, Atlanta, GA 30353, or fax 866-516-3502 |
Contact details and forms are on Factual Data’s consumer assistance page as of October 2026. Disputes are best handled in writing, which creates a record of what you asked and when.
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Get started! How It WorksFrequently Asked Questions About Factual Data
Why is Factual Data on my credit report?
A lender, usually a mortgage lender, used Factual Data to pull your credit reports. It most often appears after a mortgage application, refinance, or preapproval.
What does FD/ mean on my Experian report?
FD/ stands for Factual Data. The name after the slash is the lender that ordered the report, such as FD/ROCKET MORTGAGE.
Is a Factual Data inquiry a hard inquiry?
Yes, when it comes from a credit application. It counts as a hard inquiry on each bureau that supplied a report, but mortgage inquiries within a short shopping window are counted as one by scoring models.
Is Factual Data a scam or a collection agency?
Neither. Factual Data is a mortgage credit reporting company that pulls and merges reports for lenders. It doesn’t collect debts.
How do I get my Factual Data credit report?
If a lender pulled your report through Factual Data, you can request a copy from Factual Data by mail or phone using the contact information above.
Can I remove a Factual Data inquiry?
A legitimate inquiry generally stays on your report. Hard inquiries remain for up to two years, and FICO counts them for only 12 months. If neither you nor anyone acting for you applied for credit, you have the right to dispute it.
The Bottom Line
Factual Data on your credit report almost always means a mortgage lender checked your credit. Your Experian report often names that lender, and the inquiries from one application usually count as a single search.
When it doesn’t add up, find out which lender ordered the report, ask that lender for its permissible purpose, and take the answer to the credit bureau.
SmartDispute.ai’s AI credit repair tools read your actual credit reports, so you can see every Factual Data entry across all three bureaus, decide which ones deserve a closer look, and prepare the right letter for each.