Hard and soft inquiries
What a pull costs, how long it lasts, and how rate shopping works. Each guide opens with a short answer, then shows the mechanism and the sources.
- Hard vs. soft inquiries: which credit checks count against youA hard inquiry happens when a lender checks your credit because you applied for credit, and it can lower FICO Scores slightly for up to a year. A soft inquiry happens when you check your own credit, when a company prescreens you for an offer, or when an existing creditor reviews your account. Soft inquiries never affect your scores and lenders don't see them.
- How much does a hard inquiry lower your credit score?FICO says that for most people, one additional credit inquiry takes less than five points off their FICO Scores, and the effect lasts no more than a year. The cost can be larger if you have few accounts or a short history, and several inquiries close together add up. A few points only matter when you're sitting right on a lender's cutoff.
- How long hard inquiries stay on your report and keep countingHard inquiries stay on your credit report for up to two years, but FICO Scores only consider inquiries from the last 12 months. So an inquiry from 14 months ago is still visible to a lender reading your report, yet it no longer affects your FICO Score. Soft inquiries never affect scores at any age.
- Rate shopping for a loan without wrecking your credit scoreFICO Scores treat multiple mortgage, auto or student loan inquiries made within a short span as one inquiry. Newer FICO versions use a 45-day span, older versions use 14 days, and FICO ignores those inquiries entirely for 30 days. Credit card applications don't get this treatment. Finishing your shopping within 14 days is the safest plan.
- Apartment applications and your credit: what each one costsAn apartment application can create a hard inquiry or a soft one, depending on the screening company the landlord uses. FICO's rate-shopping grouping covers only mortgage, auto and student loans, so several rental applications that each log a hard inquiry can each count. Ask how the landlord screens before you pay the fee.
- Mortgage preapproval and credit pulls: what shows up and whenMost mortgage preapprovals involve a hard pull of all three credit reports, so you'll usually see an inquiry at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. FICO groups mortgage inquiries made within its shopping window and ignores them for 30 days, so comparing several lenders in a short span costs about the same as one pull.
- Removing hard inquiries you didn't authorize, the legitimate wayFirst figure out whether you really didn't authorize the inquiry, since dealer financing and credit vendors often show up under unfamiliar names. If a company pulled your credit without a permissible purpose, ask it to have the inquiry removed and dispute it with the bureau. If it came from someone applying in your name, treat it as identity theft and use the FCRA's block.
- Does asking for a credit limit increase cause a hard pull?It depends on who starts it. When an issuer raises your limit on its own, it uses an account review, which is a soft inquiry. When you ask, the issuer may use a soft check or a hard one, and it can depend on the issuer and the size of the request. Ask before you submit, because a hard pull can't be undone.
- Prescreened credit offers: how they work and how to opt outPrescreened offers come from lists a credit bureau builds for a lender, using criteria the lender sets. They're soft inquiries and don't affect your score. To stop them, call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or use optoutprescreen.com for a five-year opt-out, or mail the signed form for a permanent one.
- Why you get flooded with calls after a mortgage credit pullFor years, a mortgage credit pull let the bureaus sell your name as a 'trigger lead' to competing lenders, who called within hours. The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, signed September 5, 2025, took effect in March 2026 and limits those leads to firm offers from lenders you authorize or already have a mortgage or bank account with.