A credit inquiry is a record that someone asked to see your credit report. The important question is what kind of inquiry it was. A hard inquiry can affect a credit score, while a soft inquiry does not. Both can be worth understanding when you review your report.
- Hard inquiry: Usually connected to an application for credit. It can factor into a credit score.
- Soft inquiry: Often connected to an account review, prescreening, employment screening, or a report you request yourself. It does not affect credit scores.
- Check the context: Match a hard inquiry to an application, and look for an existing account when you see an account review.
- Look closer if something is unfamiliar: Review the full report and contact the credit reporting company and the company named if you cannot identify the inquiry.
What an inquiry tells you
A credit inquiry is a request to look at your credit report. Companies may request reports for credit decisions and other permitted purposes, including employment, housing, and insurance. The inquiry record can help you see who has looked at your information, although it does not by itself tell you every detail about why the check occurred.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains that hard and soft inquiries are treated differently. The distinction matters both for scoring and for reading the inquiry section of a report.
Hard inquiries and credit applications
A hard inquiry usually appears after you apply for credit and a lender checks your report to make a decision. Scoring models consider how recently and how often you have applied for credit, so a hard inquiry can affect a score. The effect is not the same for every person or every scoring model, and the CFPB does not specify a fixed number of points for one inquiry.
A hard inquiry is a reason to look at the surrounding details, not proof that an application was approved or denied. When reviewing one, note the company name and the date, then compare them with applications you remember making. A name you do not immediately recognize deserves a closer look, but it does not by itself establish fraud.
Soft inquiries do not affect scores
Soft inquiries include checks by a lender reviewing an existing account, prescreening by a prospective lender, employment screening, and requests you make for your own reports. The CFPB says these checks do not affect credit scores. Soft inquiries appear when you review your own report, but they are not shown to others who purchase it.
Checking your own report is a way to review the information without adding a hard inquiry. The nationwide credit reporting companies offer weekly access to reports on request, according to the CFPB. Their reports can differ, so an inquiry appearing on one report may be worth checking against the others.
A prescreened offer can follow a soft inquiry. The offer itself does not mean you have applied for credit. The Federal Trade Commission has more information about prescreened offers and how they work.
When a card company checks your report
Applying for a credit card generally involves a hard inquiry. By contrast, when a card company reviews an existing account, that account-management check is generally a soft inquiry. The same company can therefore appear in different contexts, and the inquiry type matters.
Under the rules described by the CFPB’s guidance for card companies, a company can look at your full report when you apply or when you are an existing customer. Applying gives permission for the application-related check. Prescreening is a separate kind of check, so receiving an offer is not the same as submitting an application.
How rate shopping is treated
Comparing loan terms can involve more than one credit check. Scoring models generally group inquiries for the same type of loan made within a short period and treat them as no more than one inquiry. The CFPB describes a window of 14 to 45 days, depending on the scoring model.
For example, multiple auto-loan inquiries close together may be grouped under the model used. An auto-loan inquiry and a mortgage inquiry are different loan types and generally count separately. Shopping beyond 45 days can also result in multiple inquiries being counted. The grouping rule should not be assumed to apply to a series of credit card applications.
The CFPB also says that, for the most common scoring models, student loan, auto loan, and mortgage inquiries made in the 30 days before scoring have no effect on the score. That is a separate timing rule from the 14-to-45-day grouping window. Because models differ, a report alone cannot tell you exactly how a particular score will treat every inquiry.
What to do with an inquiry you do not recognize
Start with the full report and the inquiry’s date and company name. Consider whether it could relate to an application or an existing account. If it remains unfamiliar, contact the credit reporting company and the company named to ask about the check. Keep copies of correspondence and note the dates of any calls.
Consumers can dispute information they believe is inaccurate with a credit reporting company and the company that supplied it. An unfamiliar inquiry is not automatically an error, and a dispute does not guarantee removal. The FTC’s guide to reading your credit report explains why reviewing report details matters. If the inquiry points to suspected fraud, consult the FTC or CFPB for current guidance on identity theft and protective steps.
Please seek a professional. This article is general information, not financial, tax or insurance advice. Please seek a licensed financial, tax or insurance professional about your own situation.
