Quick Definition
A hard inquiry (also called a hard pull) happens when a lender or creditor checks your credit report as part of a decision to extend credit to you. It shows up on your report, can lower your score slightly, and stays for two years. A soft inquiry (soft pull) is any credit check that isn't tied to a credit application — checking your own credit, pre-approval checks, background checks. Soft inquiries don't affect your score at all and aren't visible to other lenders.
How It Works
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, anyone accessing your credit report must have a valid reason — called a "permissible purpose." Hard inquiries happen when you give a lender permission to pull your full credit report as part of an application. You typically authorize this when you sign a credit application, whether for a card, auto loan, mortgage, or personal loan.
| Situation | Inquiry Type | Score Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Applying for a credit card | Hard | Yes (minor) |
| Applying for a mortgage or auto loan | Hard | Yes (minor) |
| Checking your own credit | Soft | None |
| Credit card pre-approval offers | Soft | None |
| Employer background check | Soft | None |
| Utility or insurance applications | Soft (usually) | None |
| Rate shopping for mortgages (same 45-day window) | Hard (treated as one) | Minimal |
A single hard inquiry typically costs fewer than 5 points — often nothing at all if your file is otherwise strong. Multiple hard inquiries in a short window are more damaging because they signal that you're actively seeking credit, which statistically correlates with higher risk. However, FICO has a rate-shopping exception: multiple hard pulls for the same type of loan (mortgage, auto, student loan) within a 45-day window are treated as a single inquiry.
How Long Do They Last?
Hard inquiries stay on your report for 2 years. But FICO only factors them into your score for the first 12 months. After that, they still appear on your report but are invisible to scoring calculations.
Why It Matters for Credit Repair
Unauthorized hard inquiries are a legitimate dispute target. Under the FCRA, a creditor can only access your credit report if you authorized it or if they have another permissible purpose (like reviewing an existing account or a pre-screening for firm offers of credit). If an inquiry appears that you don't recognize — especially if it might be linked to identity theft or a company that pulled your report without your authorization — you have the right to dispute it.
The process: identify the inquiry on your report, contact the creditor directly to ask when and why they pulled your report, and if they can't establish your authorization, dispute it with the bureau citing FCRA Section 604 (permissible purpose requirements).
What Most People Get Wrong
- Myth: Checking your own credit hurts your score. Checking your own credit is always a soft inquiry. It has zero impact on your score. Do it as often as you want.
- Myth: Multiple inquiries always hurt significantly. One or two inquiries have minimal impact. The concern is a pattern of many applications in a short period, which signals financial stress to lenders.
- Myth: You can't dispute hard inquiries. You absolutely can dispute unauthorized ones. What you can't dispute is a legitimate hard pull you actually authorized — even if you then decided not to take the credit.
Jess's Take
people stress about inquiries way more than they should. a single hard pull is almost nothing. what actually moves the needle is payment history and balances. that said — if you see inquiries you don't recognize, dispute them. unauthorized pulls are an FCRA violation and they come off.