Hard vs Soft Credit Inquiries: What Counts and for How Long
Which credit checks touch your scores, how long they matter, and how to compare loans without piling up inquiries.
- Soft inquiries don't affect your scores. Hard inquiries can, usually modestly, and FICO counts them for 12 months.
- FICO groups mortgage, auto and student loan shopping into one inquiry within a window; personal loans may not get that treatment.
- Prequalify with soft checks first, then submit full applications to as few lenders as you need. Dispute any inquiry you didn't authorize.
Fear of “dinging your credit” keeps a lot of people from comparing loans, which is backwards. One extra inquiry usually costs a few points for a limited time. Taking the first offer without comparing can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest over the life of a loan. The useful skill is knowing which checks count, for how long, and how to shop so that most of them don’t.
Two kinds of credit checks
Every time someone looks at your credit report, the bureau records an inquiry. They come in two types.
- Soft inquiry
- A look at your report that isn’t tied to an application for new credit. Soft inquiries don’t affect your credit scores.
- Hard inquiry
- A check made because you applied for credit and the lender is deciding whether to approve you. Hard inquiries can lower your scores, because scoring models treat a burst of new applications as a modest risk signal.
| Usually soft | Usually hard |
|---|---|
| Checking your own credit or score | Applying for a personal loan |
| Prequalification or “check your rate” tools that say so | Applying for a credit card |
| Prescreened (“preapproved”) mail offers | Applying for a car loan or mortgage |
| Your current lenders reviewing your account | Some apartment and utility applications |
| Many employment background checks | Requesting a credit limit increase, at some issuers |
The right-hand column has some gray areas. Landlords, utilities and card issuers handling limit increases don’t all treat the check the same way. When in doubt, ask whether a check will be soft or hard before you agree to it.
Who can see your inquiries
The CFPB says soft inquiries are visible only to you, on the copy of your report you request. Lenders and others who pull your report don’t see them.
Hard inquiries are visible to anyone who pulls your report for a legitimate reason under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as a lender reviewing a new application. Each entry generally shows the company name and date. A lender reading your report may notice several recent applications and ask about them, separately from whatever effect they have on your score.
How long a hard inquiry lasts
According to FICO’s consumer education pages, a hard inquiry can stay on your credit report for up to two years, but FICO Scores only consider inquiries from the last 12 months. After a year it is still listed, but it no longer counts toward your FICO Score.
How much an inquiry costs depends on the rest of your file. FICO’s published breakdown puts “new credit,” which includes recent inquiries, at about 10% of the score for the general population; payment history and amounts owed matter far more. Someone with a long, clean history may barely notice one inquiry. Someone with a short history and several recent applications may see a bigger effect. No one can tell you the exact number of points in advance.
Rate-shopping windows
Scoring models are designed so that comparing offers for a single loan isn’t punished as if you were opening many accounts. The details depend on the model and the type of loan.
How FICO handles it
FICO says its scores treat multiple inquiries for the same kind of loan within a shopping period as one inquiry:
- Older FICO versions use a 14-day window.
- Newer FICO versions use a 45-day window.
- A 30-day buffer: FICO Scores ignore these inquiries entirely for the 30 days before the score is calculated, so recent shopping doesn’t count against you while you’re still shopping.
FICO names the loan types this applies to: mortgages, auto loans and student loans. You don’t get to choose which version is used; each lender decides which score it buys.
How VantageScore handles it
VantageScore, a competing model, describes a 14-day rolling window in which it treats multiple mortgage or auto inquiries as a single credit search. Descriptions vary by version, and the newest versions may group more types. If it matters, ask the lender which score and version it uses.
What about personal loans?
Don’t assume personal-loan applications get grouped. FICO’s public explanation of de-duplication names mortgages, auto loans and student loans, not personal loans or credit cards. Depending on the model, three full personal-loan applications in a week may be counted as three inquiries. That’s not a reason to avoid comparing. It is a reason to compare with soft checks first.
How to shop with as few hard inquiries as possible
Check your own reports first
Pull your reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and fix any errors before lenders see them. It is free and doesn’t affect your scores.
Prequalify with soft checks
Many lenders, including some banks and credit unions, offer a rate check that uses a soft inquiry. Confirm the wording before submitting. Our guide to prequalification vs preapproval explains what those estimates do and don’t promise.
Compare on total cost
Line up APR, fees, term and total repayment for each estimate. The offer comparison worksheet holds up to three offers side by side.
Apply in a short window, and only where you’d accept
Submit full applications only to the one or two lenders whose estimates you’d actually take. For car loans and mortgages, keep applications within 14 days to stay inside even the shortest FICO window.
Hold off on other new credit
A store card or new phone financing in the middle of shopping adds an inquiry that won’t be grouped with the loan.
Illustrative example
Marcus, a hypothetical borrower, needs about $6,000 for a car repair. He checks rates with four lenders using soft-pull tools, which have no effect on his scores. Two estimates are close; one has a lower rate but a 6% origination fee, and the other has no fee. After working out total cost, he applies to just one lender. His report shows one new hard inquiry instead of four.
A note on matching sites
Submitting one form to a loan matching site can mean several lenders see your information. Whether that creates hard inquiries depends on the site and the lenders. Our guide to how loan matching sites work covers what to check before you submit.
Disputing an inquiry you didn’t authorize
A lender generally needs a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, such as your application, to pull your report for a credit decision. If you see a hard inquiry from a company you never applied with, take it seriously. It may be a clerical mix-up, or a sign someone applied for credit in your name.
- Check the name. Inquiries sometimes show a parent company or a dealer’s finance partner rather than the name you remember. A car dealer, for example, may have sent your application to several lenders.
- Contact the company that made the inquiry and ask why it pulled your report and on what authority.
- Dispute it with the bureau that shows it. The CFPB recommends disputing in writing with copies of supporting documents and keeping copies of everything; each bureau also accepts disputes online.
- If it looks like identity theft, report it at IdentityTheft.gov, which generates a recovery plan, and consider placing a free credit freeze with each of the three bureaus.
- If the problem isn’t resolved, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB.
If you remember one thing
Soft checks to compare, a hard check only where you’d say yes, and all your hard checks for one loan close together. That pattern keeps inquiries to a minimum without giving up the comparison that actually saves money. For more on what else a lender weighs beyond inquiries, see what lenders look at.
About this guide. General information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Lenders set their own rates, fees and approval rules, and state law varies. Examples use hypothetical numbers, not offers. Last reviewed October 12, 2026.
Sources (7)
- myFICO — Credit Checks: What are credit inquiries and how do they affect your FICO Score?
- myFICO — What's in my FICO Scores?
- CFPB — What is a credit inquiry?
- CFPB — What exactly happens when a mortgage lender checks my credit?
- CFPB — How do I dispute an error on my credit report?
- VantageScore — Thinking about applying for a loan? Shop around to find the best offer
- Experian (on behalf of the three bureaus) — Free weekly credit reports made permanent, September 2023
