How Long Does an Inquiry Stay on Your Credit Report?

You may have recently applied for a new credit card or loan and been curious about how long inquiries stay on your credit report .

Checkout this video:

How long does an inquiry stay on your credit report?

An inquiry is when a creditor checks your credit report before making a lending decision. An inquiry can be caused by you, or it can be initiated by a creditor. Inquiries stay on your credit report for up to two years and can slightly lower your credit score.

Hard inquiries

A hard inquiry, also called a hard pull, can stay on your credit report for up to two years. Hard inquiries are generated when you apply for new credit and can potentially cause your score to dip. That’s why it’s best to avoid applying for new credit accounts if you’re trying to protect your credit scores.

In general, you want to limit the number of hard inquiries on your credit report. Every time you apply for new credit, the creditor will do a hard pull of your report, and each one can ding your score by a few points. If you have multiple inquiries in a short period of time, it can signal to lenders that you’re desperate for credit or may be taking on more debt than you can afford.

If you’re shopping around for a loan or credit card, there’s no need to worry about hard inquiries impacting your credit scores. This is because lenders understand that you’re rate shopping and they will only count the inquiry from the lender that gives you the best terms as a single hard pull. As long as all your rate shopping is done within a 14-day period (30 days for business loans), it will only count as one inquiry on your report.

Soft inquiries

Soft inquiries occur when you check your own credit report or when a lender checks your report as a part of a routine review. For example, if you check your credit report to see how you’re doing, that’s a soft inquiry. Or, if an issuer checks your report because you’ve been a customer for many years and they want to offer you a preapproved credit card offer, that too would be a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries have no impact on your credit score.

Only hard inquiries have the potential to hurt your scores—and even then, it’s usually only temporary. A hard inquiry is generally initiated by your application for new credit. Applying for several cards in a short period of time can translate into multiple hard inquiries, which can have an adverse effect on your scores—especially if you don’t have much credit history to begin with. But again, the effect is usually temporary, and your scores will rebound as those Inquiries age and are replaced by positive information.

What is a hard inquiry?

A hard inquiry is when a lender checks your credit report when you apply for a loan or credit card. Hard inquiries stay on your credit report for two years, but only impact your score for the first year. After that, they fall off your report completely.

What is a soft inquiry?

A soft inquiry is an inquiry that is not used in calculating your FICO® score. Therefore, a soft inquiry will never have a negative effect on your credit score. However, too many inquiries, even if they’re soft, could still be considered excessive by a lender and result in rejection for a loan or credit card.

Lenders generally don’t like to see more than two or three inquiries on your report within the past 12 months. Some may view more as excessive and wonder if you’re desperately seeking credit or if you’re about to go on a spending spree.

How do hard inquiries affect your credit score?

How do soft inquiries affect your credit score?

Soft inquiries only appear on your credit report if you check it yourself. They are generated when you or a lender checks your credit for purposes not related to extending you new credit. Examples of soft inquiries include when you check your own credit score or a lender pulls your credit to pre-approve you for an offer. Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score.

How can you remove hard inquiries from your credit report?

A hard inquiry is when a lender checks your credit report when you apply for a loan or credit card. Hard inquiries can stay on your credit report for up to two years, but they only impact your score for the first year. After that, they fall off your report.

How can you remove soft inquiries from your credit report?

you can remove soft inquiries from your credit report by following these steps:

1. Pull your credit report from all three credit bureaus.
2. Identify any soft inquiries that are present on your report.
3. Contact the creditor that issued the inquiry and ask them to have it removed.
4. If the creditor agrees to remove the inquiry, follow up with the credit bureau to make sure it has been removed from your report.

How to avoid hard inquiries on your credit report

Hard inquiries stay on your credit report for 24 months, but only impact your score for the first 12. After that, they’ll fall off your report and stop impacting your score. So, if you’re looking to improve your credit score, you should avoid hard inquiries. But how can you do that?

How to avoid soft inquiries on your credit report

A soft inquiry, which sometimes is called a soft pull, does not impact your credit score. Soft inquiries can occur when you:

-Check your own credit report
– prospective employers check your credit report
-When creditors check your credit to pre-qualify you for credit card and loan offers
-When you are making routine background checks, such as a landlord checking your rental history
To avoid having a hard inquiry show up on your credit report, you can:

-Opt out of pre-screened offers of credit and insurance if you’re not interested in them. You can do this by calling 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688) or visiting www.optoutprescreen.com. This will stop companies from doing a hard inquiry on your credit report in order to make these offers.
-Ask for the results of a “soft pull” instead of a “hard pull” when applying for new credit, such as a loan or mortgage. With a soft pull, the lender won’t do a hard inquiry on your report, so it won’t impact your score.