Hard vs. soft inquiries
A soft inquiry — checking your own score, pre-approval offers, employer background checks — never affects your score. A hard inquiry happens when you apply for credit and a lender pulls your report. Each one typically costs 5 points or less and stops counting after 12 months, though it stays visible for 2 years.
When inquiries actually matter
One or two inquiries barely register. Six or more in a short window signals desperation to lenders and can compound into a real score drop — especially on a thin file. Rate-shopping for a mortgage or auto loan within 14 days counts as a single inquiry under modern scoring models, so shop aggressively but quickly.
Unauthorized inquiries can be removed
If you find a hard inquiry you never authorized, it may be identity theft or a lender error — and it is disputable:
- Identify the company that pulled your report (listed on the report itself).
- Send them a written request for proof of your authorization.
- If they cannot produce it, dispute the inquiry with the bureau as unauthorized.
- If you suspect identity theft, file a report at IdentityTheft.gov and place a fraud alert.
The Credit Rush letter library includes an Unauthorized Inquiry dispute template pre-built for exactly this situation — generate it in your client portal in minutes.