A hard inquiry sits on your credit report for two years, yet FICO scores only count it for the first twelve months. Here's the month-by-month timeline, what one usually costs, and when an inquiry is worth disputing.
One website or one phone call takes your name off the lists credit bureaus sell for pre-approved offers. How to opt out of prescreened offers, how long it lasts, and the things it won't stop that people expect it to.
Every company that pulls your credit leaves a record, and you're entitled to see it. Where to find your inquiries, how to tell soft from hard, what the odd names mean, and what to do about one you don't recognize.
Mortgage lenders don't use the score in your banking app. They pull three older FICO versions, one from each bureau, and take the middle one. How that works, with a worked example for a couple applying together.
Credit advice treats every mistake as equally scary. It isn't. A bankruptcy and a hard inquiry are in completely different leagues. What really moves a FICO score, ranked from most damaging to least, and how long each one sticks around.
Both kinds of credit check read the same file. What changes is why it was opened, who can see that it happened, and whether the score moves. Plus the rate-shopping rule that trips up most mortgage borrowers.
Try it now
Name, current address and real FICO® Score 4 from TransUnion data. Results in seconds. As low as $9.99.
