Checking Your Credit Score: Hard vs. Soft Inquiries
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Written by
Paige Cerulli
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Edited by
Emily Gadd
When you apply for a loan, like a mortgage or a car loan, lenders review your credit score to evaluate how likely you are to be able to pay back what you borrow. Monitoring your credit score can give you an idea of whether you’re likely to be approved for a loan or a credit card, but there are several other reasons to stay on top of your credit.
When you check your credit score, you’ll better understand how well you’re managing your debt. You also have the chance to review all of your outstanding accounts, and you could potentially spot errors or signs that your identity has been stolen. As a result, it’s a good idea to check your credit score at least once a year.
Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It?
No, checking your own credit score doesn’t lower it.
When you check your own credit, you’re performing a soft inquiry. Since you’re not actually applying for credit, a soft inquiry won’t impact your score.
If you apply for credit, such as by applying for a loan or a credit card, the lender performs a hard inquiry. A hard inquiry, or hard credit check, will affect your score.
Soft Inquiries: The No-Impact Credit Check
A soft credit inquiry is an inquiry made without actually opening a new line of credit. When you check your credit yourself using a credit monitoring tool, you’re performing a soft inquiry. Third parties, like a landlord who runs a credit check before approving your rental application, or a mortgage lender who runs a credit check to preapprove you for a mortgage, can also perform soft credit checks. The same is true if you get prequalified for a student loan, a personal loan or a credit card.
Since soft credit inquiries aren’t actually opening credit, they won’t impact your credit score. That means that you can repeatedly check your own credit without impacting the score. But if you move onto the next step of getting a mortgage or loan, the lender will perform a hard inquiry, and that will impact your score.
Hard Inquiries: What You Need to Know
When you actually apply for a loan or a credit card, the lender will perform a hard credit check toward the end of the approval process. Hard inquiries, also called hard pulls, help lenders decide whether to give you additional credit.
A hard inquiry can lower your credit score, typically from five to 10 points. While a hard credit inquiry overall has a minimal effect on your score, you can preserve your score by only approving hard inquiries when they’re necessary, such as when you’re certain you want and need to apply for credit.
Eventually, the effects of hard inquiries on your score are erased, but it takes time. Most hard inquiries only apply to your score for up to 12 months. Hard inquiries will remain on your credit report for two years, at which point they fall off.
What Kind of Credit Inquiry Has No Effect on Your Credit Score?
There are safe ways to monitor your credit without lowering your credit score. Tools like myFICO and VantageScore monitoring give you free access to your credit report, so you can review your credit score without impacting it. These tools only perform soft inquiries and they also provide some tips and insights to help you understand the factors that impact your credit score, so you can work to improve your credit.
Landlords and employers may also perform credit score checks. Landlords may check your credit to get an idea of whether you’re likely to reliably pay your rent. Some employers review your credit history to determine whether you’re responsible and will be a trustworthy addition to their business. Landlords and employers perform soft credit checks only, since you’re not actually applying for credit, so these inquiries won’t affect your credit score. You should also be asked to approve these credit inquiries before they take place.
Does Checking FICO Score Lower It?
Lenders use different credit scoring models to evaluate your credit application. The two main models are FICO and VantageScore. Since many lenders use your FICO Score to qualify you for credit, so it’s helpful to monitor your FICO Score before you apply for credit.
When you check your FICO Score yourself, you’re performing a soft inquiry, so you’re not impacting your score. In contrast, when you apply for credit, the lender performs a hard inquiry which will slightly lower your FICO Score.
How Much Does Your Credit Score Decrease When It’s Checked?
While hard inquiries typically only reduce your credit score by five to 10 points, those deductions can add up if multiple hard inquiries are performed in a short period of time.
For example, if you’re shopping for a mortgage, you might choose to apply to five different companies to shop around for the best mortgage rates and terms. The same is true if you’re looking for a car loan. While it might seem like a good idea to apply for several lenders to get the best interest rate, doing so can have a significant impact on your credit score. If your score is lower, lenders might give you higher interest rates.
Similarly, when you apply for a credit card, the issuer will typically perform a hard inquiry. Even if you’re looking to improve your credit history by opening one of the best credit cards for bad credit, you’ll need to be mindful of the short-term impact on your credit score.
Rate Shopping Window
The key to shopping around for a loan is to time your hard inquiries so they fall within a certain window. The FICO “rate shopping” window minimizes the effects of multiple hard credit inquiries so you can shop for a loan without heavily impacting your credit.
During this rate-shopping window, mortgage, auto loan and student loan rate-shopping credit inquiries that are under 30 days old may be ignored, meaning they won’t impact your credit. Alternatively, if you have multiple inquiries that fall within the rate-shopping window, they may be counted as a single inquiry, so only five to 10 points will be taken off of your credit score.
Best Practices for Checking Your Credit
You can use free credit monitoring tools to check your credit without triggering hard inquiries or lowering your credit score.
It’s a good idea to regularly check your credit report for any inaccuracies, such as open credit accounts that you didn’t apply for, or closed accounts that are still displaying as being open. Your credit report also includes a list of credit inquiries, so monitor them for any hard inquiries that you didn’t authorize.
If you find any inaccuracies, promptly dispute the errors on your credit report to maintain your credit and possibly protect your identity.
Check Your Credit Without Worry
Hard credit inquiries, which are performed when you actually apply for credit, can lower your credit score. When you check your credit, you’re performing a soft inquiry, which has no effect on your score.
You can use free credit monitoring tools to check your credit regularly to stay informed. Checking your credit can help you understand how well you’re managing your debt, and you might also identify inaccuracies that you need to correct. Start monitoring your credit score today with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Checking your credit is an important part of financial planning, and it can help you to spot errors and protect your credit score, too. These answers to some frequently asked questions will help you understand the ins and outs of credit monitoring.
Does checking your credit score hurt it?
You can repeatedly check your credit score without hurting it, since you’re only performing a soft inquiry.
If you apply for credit and a lender checks your credit, they perform a hard inquiry. Hard inquiries can harm your credit score.
What’s the difference between a soft and hard inquiry?
A soft inquiry is performed when you’re not actually applying for credit, such as when you check your credit or a landlord checks your credit before approving your rental application.
When you actually apply for credit, such as when you apply for a mortgage or loan, the lender performs a hard inquiry during the approval process. The hard inquiry can lower your credit score by five to 10 points.
How long do hard inquiries stay on your credit report?
Hard inquiries stay on your credit report for two years. After two years, they naturally fall off your report.
Can checking your FICO score affect your credit?
Performing a soft inquiry to check your FICO score won’t affect your credit. If a lender performs a hard inquiry to check your FICO score when you apply for credit, the inquiry will lower your credit score.
How can I monitor my credit without lowering my score?
You can monitor your credit yourself without lowering your score. There are many free monitoring tools available that make it easy to check your credit. Some of these tools also provide tips to help you determine how to improve your credit score.
