A hard credit inquiry is a check of your credit report that a lender makes after you apply for credit, and it can lower your score slightly. A soft credit inquiry is a check not tied to a new application, such as reviewing your own report, and it never affects your score.
Quick answer A hard credit inquiry happens when a lender reviews your report because you applied for a loan or card. Other lenders can see it, and it can trim a FICO Score by a few points for up to a year. A soft inquiry happens when you check your own report, when an existing creditor reviews your account, or when a company prescreens you for an offer. Only you can see soft inquiries, and they don’t affect your score.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes both types as records that a company or person asked to see your credit report. The difference is who asked, why, and whether you started it with an application.
What counts as a hard inquiry
A hard inquiry is logged when a lender checks your report to decide on credit you asked for. The CFPB lists common moments when a lender runs a credit check: a mortgage preapproval, a request for a higher credit limit, a refinance, and again just before a mortgage closes. Credit card, auto loan and personal loan applications work the same way.
A lender can’t pull your report just because you asked about its rates. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a card issuer may look at your report only if you are a customer or an applicant, according to the CFPB.
What counts as a soft inquiry
The CFPB names four common soft inquiries:
- a lender you already do business with reviewing your account;
- a company checking whether you qualify for a prescreened offer;
- an employer screening you for a job, with your permission;
- you checking your own report.
Soft inquiries appear only on the copy of the report you see. Hard inquiries are visible to anyone who later pulls your report for a lending decision. When an existing lender checks your report to review your account, that check is soft, the CFPB says.
Hard vs soft inquiry at a glance
| Hard inquiry | Soft inquiry | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical trigger | You apply for a card, loan or limit increase | Account review, prescreened offer, your own check |
| Needs your application | Yes | No |
| Visible to other lenders | Yes | No, only to you |
| Effect on a FICO Score | Usually under 5 points | None |
| Time on an Experian report | 25 months | Shown only to you |
Sources for the table: CFPB, myFICO and Experian.
How much a hard inquiry lowers a credit score
For most people, one more hard inquiry takes less than 5 points off a FICO Score, according to myFICO. Inquiries sit in the “new credit” category, which makes up 10% of a FICO Score. An inquiry can stay on a report for up to two years, but FICO only counts those from the last 12 months.
Volume matters more than any single check. myFICO says people with six or more inquiries on their reports can be up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with none, which is why a cluster of new applications weighs more. Experian keeps hard inquiries on its report for 25 months.
Checking your own score or report is a soft inquiry and does not lower it. See how a credit score works for the other factors.
Rate shopping for a mortgage, auto or student loan
Scoring models treat a burst of checks for one loan as a single search. FICO counts mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries made within 45 days as one inquiry on newer score versions and within 14 days on older ones, and it ignores those inquiries entirely for their first 30 days, myFICO says. Each lender picks which FICO version it uses, so a 14-day window is the safer plan.
VantageScore groups inquiries within 14 days as one. Experian notes that credit card applications don’t get this treatment: each card application counts on its own.
Spotting an inquiry you don’t recognize
Read the inquiry section of your credit report before assuming a mistake. Experian says a store card inquiry can show the name of the financing company behind the card instead of the store. You can’t remove a legitimate hard inquiry, but you can dispute one you didn’t authorize with the credit bureau that lists it. Experian says disputes usually take about 30 days.
You can check all three bureaus for free each week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the CFPB says. If you find accounts you didn’t open, a credit freeze stops new lenders from pulling your report until you lift it.
Stopping prescreened offers
Prescreened mail offers come from soft inquiries, so they don’t hurt your score, but you can opt out. The CFPB says to call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit OptOutPrescreen.com, which covers Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and Innovis. An online opt-out lasts five years; a signed form sent by mail makes it permanent. Your request takes effect within five business days.
