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.”
According to FICO, a hard inquiry from a lender will decrease your credit score five points or less. If you have a strong credit history and no other credit issues, you may find that your scores drop even less than that. The drop is temporary.
No. Your credit score does not go up when a hard inquiry drops off your credit report. Your score will not go down when a hard inquiry drops off, either. Instead, a hard inquiry (or hard credit pull) stops having an impact on your credit score after one year, which is one year before it drops off your credit report.
Disputing hard inquiries on your credit report involves working with the credit reporting agencies and possibly the creditor that made the inquiry. Hard inquiries can't be removed, however, unless they're the result of identity theft. Otherwise, they'll have to fall off naturally, which happens after two years.
If you spot a hard credit inquiry on your credit report and it's legitimate (i.e., you knew you were applying for credit), there's nothing you can do to remove it besides wait. It won't impact your score after 12 months and will fall off your credit report after two years.
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.
Hard inquiries serve as a timeline of when you have applied for new credit and may stay on your credit report for two years, although they typically only affect your credit scores for one year. Depending on your unique credit history, hard inquiries could indicate different things to different lenders.
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. This is all done over the phone, swiftly and without ever creating a letter or buying a stamp.
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.”
A credit repair company may promise to remove a hard inquiry from your credit history for a fee, but inquiries can only be removed if they're the result of fraud. Instead of paying a company to do it for you, you can dispute a fraudulent inquiry by yourself—for free.
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.
The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus. This means a couple of things: The scores we provide are actual credit scores pulled from two of the major consumer credit bureaus, not just estimates of your credit rating.
How Many Points Does a Hard Inquiry Affect Your Credit Score? A single hard inquiry will drop your score by no more than five points. Often no points are subtracted. However, multiple hard inquiries can deplete your score by as much as 10 points each time they happen.
Checking your free credit scores on Credit Karma doesn't hurt your credit. These credit score checks are known as soft inquiries, which don't affect your credit at all. Hard inquiries (also known as “hard pulls”) generally happen when a lender checks your credit while reviewing your application for a financial product.
When you pay off a loan, your credit score could be negatively affected. This is because your credit history is shortened, and roughly 10% of your score is based on how old your accounts are. If you've paid off a loan in the past few months, you may just now be seeing your score go down.
Checking your credit reports or credit scores will not impact credit scores. Regularly checking your credit reports and credit scores is a good way to ensure information is accurate. Hard inquiries in response to a credit application do impact credit scores.
Credit utilization — the portion of your credit limits that you are currently using — is a significant factor in credit scores. It is one reason your credit score could drop a little after you pay off debt, particularly if you close the account.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
How long should you wait between credit card applications? You should generally wait six months to a year before applying for a new credit card. Over time, hard inquiries don't have as much impact on your credit score. Typically, within six months to a year, those inquiries don't have as much weight.
One or two hard inquiries accrued during the normal course of applying for loans or credit cards can have an almost negligible effect on your credit. Lots of recent hard inquiries on your credit report, however, could elevate the level of risk you pose as a borrower and have a more noticeable impact on credit scores.
Consequently, when lenders check your FICO credit score, whether based on credit report data from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, they will likely use the FICO 8 scoring model. FICO 8 scores range between 300 and 850. A FICO score of at least 700 is considered a good score.
A FICO score of 650 is considered fair—better than poor, but less than good. It falls below the national average FICO® Score of 710, and solidly within the fair score range of 580 to 669.
You can get your FICO® Score for free from hundreds of financial services companies, including banks, credit unions, credit card issuers and credit counselors that participate in the FICO® Score Open Access program and offer free scores to customers.
For most loan types, the credit score needed to buy a house is at least 620. However, a higher score significantly improves your chances of approval, as borrowers with scores under 650 tend to make up just a small fraction of closed purchase loans.
Hard inquiries CAN hurt your credit score
Hard inquiries are necessary for certain financial actions, such as applying for a loan or credit card, but they should be minimized. A hard inquiry might lower your credit score by several points and will remain on your credit report for up to two years.