A hard inquiry (also called a hard pull) occurs when a lender checks your credit report as part of a lending decision, such as applying for a credit card, loan, or mortgage. Each hard inquiry can temporarily lower your credit score by 5-10 points and remains on your credit report for two years. Multiple inquiries for the same type of loan (mortgage, auto) within a 14-45 day window are typically counted as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.
Hard Inquiry
Definition
A hard inquiry (also called a hard pull) occurs when a lender checks your credit report as part of a lending decision, such as applying for a credit card, loan, or mortgage. Each hard inquiry can temporarily lower your credit score by 5-10 points and remains on your credit report for two years. Multiple inquiries for the same type of loan (mortgage, auto) within a 14-45 day window are typically counted as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.
Example
Applying for three different credit cards in one month would result in three hard inquiries, potentially lowering your score by 15-30 points. However, shopping for a mortgage with three lenders in two weeks would count as only one inquiry.
Key Points
- 1Occurs when lenders check your credit for lending decisions
- 2Can lower score by 5-10 points temporarily
- 3Stays on credit report for 2 years
- 4Rate shopping for same loan type within 14-45 days counts as one
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