What Is A Soft Inquiry
Soft inquiries, on the other hand, occur when a creditor checks your credit without your permission. This could be a lender with whom youve talked to for a pre-approval quote but havent actually applied for a loan.
Sometimes a soft inquiry might even be pulled by an existing creditor just checking on your current credit situation. Another example of a soft inquiry is from a credit card issuer that would like to send you credit card offers.
Start An Official Dispute
Sometimes, your efforts to resolve the matter yourself may not succeed. If the furnisher doesn’t know how to remove inquiries from credit reports â or ignores or rejects your request â you should file a formal dispute.
What to do:
- Remember to keep a copy if you send a dispute letter by mail. Itâs good to have a record in case you pursue legal action later.
- Avoid filing disputes over the phone. While thatâs a quick way to report issues and get advice from authorities, itâs difficult to maintain a paper trail.
Not All Questionable Inquiries Are False
Although the names of some companies on the list may seem unknown or suspicious, it is not an indicator that fraud or error took place. If the list is long, again, it does not prove that a mistake has been made.
If you used the services of a loan broker, who was looking for the best rates and loan conditions, he was most likely submitting applications on your behalf to various creditors. This could result in numerous inquiries authorized by you, even if you ended up with a single loan.
You May Like: How Often Does Ally Financial Report To Credit Bureaus
How Credit Inquiries Could Hurt Your Credit Scores
When a hard inquiry hurts your credit, the exact impact will depend on your overall credit profile. Often, a single new hard inquiry may only drop your scores by around three to 10 points. And generally, scores rise back up to the pre-inquiry level within a few months if theres no new negative information added to your credit report.
Multiple hard inquiries can lead to larger score drops as someone whos applying for many new credit accounts might be at a greater risk of missing a payment in the future. However, credit scoring models also recognize that shopping and submitting multiple applications isnt always risky behavior.
FICO and VantageScore , take slightly different approaches to rate shopping:
- VantageScore deduplication means that multiple inquiries from credit applications, including credit cards, within a 14-day period only count as one hard inquiry.
- FICO deduplication means that multiple hard inquiries for student loans, auto loans, and mortgages from a 14- to 45-day period count as one hard inquiry.
- FICO buffer means that inquiries from the previous 30 days for student, auto, and mortgage loans dont impact your scores.
Knowing these rules, you can rate shop for a new loan without having to worry that it will have a major impact on your credit scores.
How To Remove A Hard Inquiry On Your Own
To remove a hard inquiry yourself, youll want to directly contact the credit bureau showing the inaccurate inquiries. The good news is that the days of using certified mail for this are behind us, since all three credit bureaus accept disputes online, with Equifax and Experian exclusively accepting them online. If you really want to write a letter by hand to TransUnion, you can, but your stamps are probably better saved for other things.
To get the inaccurate dispute removed as quickly as possible, FICO advises contacting both the credit bureau and the organization that provided the information, since both are required by law to correct the mistake.
Here are some steps to follow when writing out your dispute letter to credit bureaus and organizations:
You May Like: How Long Does It Take To Dispute Credit Report
Lauren Smith Wallethub Staff Writer
@laurenellesmith09/26/22 This answer was first published on 09/26/22. For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.
You cannot remove inquiries from your credit report unless the information listed is incorrect. If there is an error, you can file a dispute with the three major credit bureaus to have it removed, but the information will remain on your report for seven years if it is accurate.
Look For Unauthorized Or Incorrect Hard Inquiries
You can request to remove hard inquiries from your credit reports if
If you did apply for a credit account or authorize a hard inquiry, you cant remove it from your reports. It remains on your credit reports as part of an accurate representation of your credit history. If thats the case, it should fall off your reports after about two years.
Read Also: Is 552 A Good Credit Score
Understanding Your Credit Report
Understanding your credit report is essential before you attempt reading it like a pro. Every single section of your credit file can contain potential mix-ups and errors that ultimately damage your credit and lower your credit score.
Your credit report begins with personal identifiable information that needs to be carefully reviewed, including your date of birth, social security number, complete name, and address. Errors in the birth dates, name, or multiple social security numbers are some of the most common inaccuracies found in a credit report.
Another part of your credit report relates to your payment history, account balances, credit limits, and all activity associated with a given account. The main aspects to check for include any closed accounts that remain open, inaccurate balances and credit limits, unauthorized users or owners of the account in question, or current accounts labeled as late or delinquent.
Review Your Credit Report
Your credit report is your financial resume. It contains all activities of the past seven years, the entire most recent credit history. Stephen R. Bucci, the author of redit Management Kit for Dummies,compares your credit report to your dating profile, which ultimately determines what kind of date you deserve. The same applies to your credit profile and the type of loan you qualify for.
Read Also: What Is A Credit Score Definition
How Important Is It To Remove Inquiries From Your Credit Report
Inquiries are the least important items to remove from your credit reports, compared to other negative items like missed payments and delinquent debts.
They have a relatively low effect on your credit scores and cause less and less damage over time. Because they only affect your credit score for 12 months and drop off entirely after two years, hard inquiries are by no means the worst thing you can have on your credit report.
Many negative items stay on there for anywhere between seven and ten years. So if your credit history is riddled with several derogatory marks, removing hard inquiries should be your last priority as you work on increasing your overall scores.
It often helps to talk to a professional credit repair company to help you analyze your credit reports and prioritize issues that need to be addressed. They have the legal know-how of what your rights are with your different creditors and how likely you are to get certain items removed.
Hard Inquiries Sometimes Appear In Error
There are several reasons that inaccurate hard inquiries might appear. All of them impact whether you receive credit and loans, and the interest rates that you receive for these loans. One cause of error is identity theft. When you receive a fraud alert, itâs sometimes because someone is using your personal information that they gained through identity theft to apply for credit or a loan in your name.
A hard credit inquiry carried out through identity theft will hurt your credit score, so the inquiry itself is worth disputing. If the fraud threatens immediate harm, you can put a on your record, to prevent anyone from accessing it until the issue is resolved.
Hard inquiries are supposed to last for only two years on a credit report. If one is older than two years, itâs in error. The mistake still hurts your credit score, so you should contest it. Additionally, a hard inquiry from a single application could mistakenly appear on your credit report multiple times. This is an innocent slip up, but you should still dispute it.
Sometimes retailers or lenders run unauthorized hard inquiries, where they look up a credit report by mistake and/or without permission. This can also happen if a merchant sends out multiple inquiries to try to get you the best financing for a loan. In situations like this, as long as the inquiries are all within 14 days of each other, they will only count as one inquiry against your credit score.
Recommended Reading: What Is Your Credit Score When You Have No Credit
Include All Essential Information
When you write your dispute letter, make sure to include the following items:
- Name, address, and date of birth
- The date of writing the letter
- Dates of disputed information and the company that provided that information
- The credit bureau that recorded the disputed hard inquiry
- Your official request for an inquiry removal along with reasons why you believe authorities should remove the inquiry
- Any relevant supporting documents that will help authorities with their investigation â for example, an FTC identity theft report, bank statements, or evidence from the creditor
Make sure to send copies of any supporting documents â but not the originals, as you wonât get them back. If you want to make this process easier, the FTC provides a dispute letter template.
How Many Credit Inquiries Is Too Many
The effects of one or two credit inquiries on your credit score wont necessarily have to be significant. People that have no other negative marks on their credit reports might not even see a difference. However, the more of them you have, the higher the odds of a lender characterizing you as a high-risk client.
Even though every lender has their own criteria for determining how many inquiries are too many, six is usually considered unacceptable. That being said, some bad-credit lenders are willing to overlook even that many hard checks.
Dont Miss: How To Boost Credit Score 100 Points
You May Like: How Long Does Information Stay On Credit Report
Does Your Credit Report Show Inquiries You Did Not Make Here’s How Donotpay Can Help You Remove Them
Any credit inquiries from the past two years will typically show up on your credit report, and periodically checking your report for errors or signs of possible identity theft is a must to make sure you are not losing points for inquiries you are not responsible for. Although you generally cannot remove legitimate credit inquiries, you may have several options forremoving inquiries that you did not make from your credit report. Here is an overview of what credit inquiries are, how they can impact your credit report, and how DoNotPay can help you improve your credit score if you notice fraudulent inquiries or other errors on your credit report!
Check Your Credit Report
The first step in removing hard inquiries is to evaluate your credit report. You can get a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. Dont assume they are all the same because each report will have different information. Examine all three credit bureau reports: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Credit reports are free annually, so its a good financial habit to do this once a year.
Read Also: Is Checking Your Credit Score Bad
How Do I Stop Hard Credit Inquiries
In a perfect world, there would only be one answer: minimize your loan or credit applications. In other words, do not inquire about a loan if you are not in immediate need of one. Start from repairing your credit before you attempt any significant credit inquiries.
Unfortunately, in a digital world, you may not be the only one inquiring for credit on your behalf. Fraud does happen more often than not. To minimize the risk of your credit being abused by an unauthorized person, monitor your credit report frequently to ensure no illegal activity took place.
Preventing Unauthorized Hard Inquiries
To prevent future unauthorized hard inquiries, consider placing a freeze on your credit report. This option prevents any lenders or creditors from accessing your credit information.
Its great for preventing identity theft because no one can open a new credit account using your financial information since they wont get approved without a credit check. However, it also helps prevent unwanted inquiries if you find this to be an ongoing headache.
Placing a freeze on your credit report and having it removed incur separate fees in most states. So, dont do this if you intend to apply for a new credit card or loan in the near future. But if you anticipate your financials to remain the same for the time being, this can be a convenient option to keep your credit nice and clean.
Read Also: Does A Mortgage Help Your Credit Score
Can Your Prevent Unauthorized Credit Inquiries
Fortunately, you can prevent credit inquiries from happening without your consent using credit freeze .
This means that your credit report is locked and creditors and issuers havent access to it.
This way, even if youre an identity theft victim, they cant use your identity to obtain credit using your name. Its unlikely any creditor will approve a loan without checking your credit report.
All three credit scoring companies have programs for credit/security freeze. Of course, not even you can apply for a new credit card or loan during a credit freeze. However, you can permanently or temporarily lift the freeze if you want to apply for credit or a loan.
Remember Inquiries Play A Small Role In Your Credit
While recent hard inquiries can hurt your credit scores, theyre generally not the leading reason for having poor credit scores. Removing hard inquiries may increase your credit scores by a few points, but you want to focus on the bigger factors when youre trying to build good credit.
At , we take a holistic approach to credit restoration. We can closely review your credit reports, help remove inaccurate negative information that may be hurting your scores, and guide you on the best ways to build your credit moving forward.
You May Like: Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It
How Long Do Hard Inquiries Stay On The Credit Report
You might be wondering how much hard inquiry is too many hard inquiries. Well, you dont need to stress. You can learn everything here. Hard inquiries on credit happen when you apply for credit or a loan. It will stay on the credit report for at least 24 months. But a hard inquiry doesnt affect the score after 12 months.
Even though hard inquiries stay on the credit report for over two years, the credit Bureau considered for the past 12 months. It is seen that hard inquiries might cause harm to the credit scores of people with short credit history. If you are someone who is just starting out to build their credit, then hard inquiry can do severe damage to the credit score. But it doesnt mean that you have to stay away from applying for the credit. Its pretty fine to have a few inquiries regularly. It shows that you are trying to build an excellent credit score and ensure that you dont apply for too many credits in a short amount.
Dont Miss: What Credit Score Does Synchrony Bank Require
Can You Remove Hard Inquiries From Your Credit Reports
While a single hard inquiry, also known as a hard pull, is unlikely to impact your eligibility for new credit products such as a new credit card, it can affect your credit scores for up to two years.
When reviewing hard inquiries on your credit reports, you want to make sure that they are legitimate. What does that mean? For each hard inquiry line item you see, did you authorize the creditor or lender to pull your credit? If you did, you dont need to take any action.
But its possible that when youre monitoring your credit reports that youll flag instances of unauthorized hard inquiries. If you find one of these, youll want to file a dispute with the credit bureau that generated the report and ask the bureau to remove the unauthorized inquiry.
Heres how to dispute inaccurate hard inquiries from your credit reports.
- Review your credit reports
- Look for unauthorized or incorrect hard inquiries
- If warranted, file a dispute with the corresponding credit bureau
Also Check: What Does Frozen Credit Report Mean
The Final Word On Hard Inquiries
Clearing up inaccurate hard inquiries can be time-consuming but might be worth it if removing them significantly improves your credit score. Keep in mind that credit inquiries arent the only things that affect your credit score and, in some cases, dont even have a majority ruling.
For example, if you take a look at how FICO determines credit scores, youll see that other factors, like credit utilization and payment history, have much more sway over your score than a few points lost to a hard inquiry.
All of which is to say that youll want to check your credit score often not just for hard inquiries. If it seems low or wrong to you, take the time to find out why by requesting a free credit report and pinpointing exactly what you need to improve.
- Build your credit history every time you spend money
- Works with your existing bank account
- Earn up to 1% in points for rideshares, coffees, phone bills, and more