Every point may count when you're applying for a new credit card or loan. Unfortunately, you generally can't remove accurate records from your credit reports, including hard inquiries from previous credit applications — even if the application was denied. But don't stress too much.
If you did apply for a credit account or authorize a hard inquiry, you can't remove it from your reports. It remains on your credit reports as part of an accurate representation of your credit history. If that's the case, it should fall off your reports after about two years.
Contrary to popular belief, checking your own credit score won't lower it. That said, hard inquiries can lower your credit score. If hard inquiries occur without your consent, the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows you to remove those inquiries through a dispute.
There are definitely some benefits to removing inquiries from your credit report. Your score may improve. Hard inquiries will depress your credit score for the first six to 12 months. If you have them removed before then, you may see a quick boost in your credit score.
However, multiple hard inquiries can deplete your score by as much as 10 points each time they happen. People with six or more recent hard inquiries are eight times as likely to file for bankruptcy than those with none. That's way more inquiries than most of us need to find a good deal on a car loan or credit card.
Since hard inquiries affect your credit score and what is found may even affect approval, you might be wondering: How many inquiries is too many? The answer differs from lender to lender, but most consider six total inquiries on a report at one time to be too many to gain approval for an additional credit card or loan.
The credit bureaus should remove hard inquiries from your credit reports after two years, and the inquiries won't necessarily impact your credit scores for the entire time. FICO Scores only consider hard inquiries from the previous 12 months when calculating your score.
According to FICO, studies show that people with six or more hard inquiries on their credit reports can be up to eight times as likely to declare bankruptcy, compared to those with no inquiries.
Credit repair companies can't remove legitimate hard inquiries from your credit report, and neither can anyone else. And there's really no need to pay a credit repair company to get an inaccurate inquiry removed, since you can do that yourself for free.
How do hard inquiries impact your credit score? A hard credit inquiry could lower your credit score by as much as 10 points, though in many cases the damage probably won't be that significant. As FICO explains: “For most people, one additional credit inquiry will take less than five points off their FICO Scores.”
Contact the lender directly to ask them about the inquiry. If they find it was made in error, ask them to inform the credit reporting agencies. If the lender finds the inquiry was made fraudulently, report it to the FTC.
Depending on your unique credit history, hard inquiries could indicate different things to different lenders. Recent hard inquiries on your credit report tell a lender that you are currently shopping for new credit. This may be meaningful to a potential lender when assessing your creditworthiness.
If you can't trace the reason for a hard inquiry or you believe it was done without your consent, you can dispute it online. If the credit bureau can't confirm it as a legitimate inquiry, it's required to remove it. Contact each credit bureau individually: How to dispute your Equifax credit report.
Your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts, explain why you dispute the information, and request that it be removed or corrected. You may want to enclose a copy of your credit report with the items in question circled.
Applications for new credit account for just 10% of your score, according to FICO, so a hard inquiry won't necessarily make a major impact. There are times when a hard inquiry is unavoidable, such as when you're applying for a mortgage or an auto loan.
In general, six or more hard inquiries are often seen as too many. Based on the data, this number corresponds to being eight times more likely than average to declare bankruptcy. This heightened credit risk can damage a person's credit options and lower one's credit score.
Too many credit inquiries on your credit report can make you appear riskier to lenders which can reduce your chances of getting approved for new credit. While different lenders may have varying criteria for what they deem as “too many,” you should try to keep the number of inquiries under six.
Does Amex make a hard inquiry? When you apply for an American Express credit card, the bank will typically perform a hard inquiry of your credit report. However if your application is denied, it won't show as a hard pull on your credit report.
Credit scores can drop due to a variety of reasons, including late or missed payments, changes to your credit utilization rate, a change in your credit mix, closing older accounts (which may shorten your length of credit history overall), or applying for new credit accounts.
A hard credit inquiry will cause your credit score to drop by around 5-10 points on average. If you have a strong credit history, your credit score could take less of a hit. Hard credit inquiries only remain on your credit report for two years, and no longer impact credit scores after one year.
To get an inquiry removed within 24 hours, you need to physically call the companies that placed the inquiries on the telephone and demand their removal.
Filing a dispute has no impact on credit scores. But if certain information on your credit report changes as a result of your dispute, your credit score can change. The nature of that change—whether your score goes up, down or stays the same—depends on what you are disputing and the outcome of the dispute.