Hard vs soft inquiries

TL;DR

• Hard inquiries are triggered by new credit applications and show on your report for 2 years. FICO scores them for the first 12 months; after that they still show but don't affect the score.
• Soft inquiries (pre-approvals, CLIs on soft-pull issuers, your own credit checks) never affect your score.
• Rate-shopping for auto, mortgage, or student loans within a 14-45 day window counts as one inquiry, not many. Credit cards don't get this window.

What triggers each

Hard inquiries happen when you apply for new credit and the lender pulls your bureau file for an underwriting decision:

• Credit card application
• Auto loan, mortgage, student loan application
• Some credit line increase requests (Chase, Citi, Wells typically hard-pull for CLI)
• Rental / apartment applications at larger property managers
• Some utility services (varies by state)

Soft inquiries happen when a lender or service pulls your file for a purpose that isn't an underwriting decision:

• Pre-approval offers ("you're pre-qualified" mailers)
• Your own checks (Credit Karma, Experian app, myFICO)
• Employer background checks
• Existing creditors reviewing your account
• Soft-pull CLI requests (Discover, Capital One, Amex, Apple Card, Barclays)
• Account-review pulls your existing issuers run to monitor risk

How much a hard inquiry affects your score

One hard inquiry:

• FICO 8: ~5 points off the score for ~12 months
• VantageScore 3.0: ~3 points off for ~6 months
• FICO 2/4/5 (mortgage models): ~8-10 points, felt for longer

Multiple hard inquiries in rapid succession compound more heavily. FICO penalizes 3+ hard inquiries in 6 months more than a linear model would — you hit a "rate-shopping suspect" threshold that suggests desperation.

The penalty fades quickly. 24 months after the inquiry, it's invisible to the score (though the inquiry still shows on the report for the full 2 years).

Rate-shopping windows — the big exception

Multiple hard inquiries for the same type of loan within a specific window count as ONE inquiry for scoring purposes. This exists so you can shop for rates without a big score hit.

FICO 8 window: 45 days for mortgage, auto, and student loans. FICO 2/4/5 window: 14 days (older, stricter). VantageScore: 14 days for any category including credit cards.

Critical exception: the rate-shopping window does NOT apply to credit card applications in FICO models. Each credit card app is its own hard inquiry, always.

In practice: if you apply for auto financing at three dealers in the same week, all three pulls count as one inquiry in FICO's eyes. If you apply for three credit cards in the same week, each is a separate inquiry — and most issuers will deny the 2nd or 3rd app when they see the others.

Managing inquiries around applications

Before a credit card application:

• Wait 6 months since your last hard inquiry if possible.
• If you can't wait, space apps at least 30 days apart to avoid triggering instant-denial logic.
• Check which bureau the target issuer pulls (Who uses which score). If you have a clean bureau, apply for cards that pull that one.

Before a mortgage application:

• Ideally no hard inquiries in the last 6 months.
• No new accounts opened in the last 12 months (affects length of credit history, not just new credit).
• After pre-approval, don't apply for anything new until after closing. A late inquiry can trigger a re-underwrite.

Before an auto loan:

• Shop all dealers and banks within a 14-day window. Your first hard pull starts the clock.
• Don't apply for a new credit card during the shopping window. That hard inquiry won't be protected by the rate-shopping exception.

Pre-approvals and pre-qualifications

Many card issuers offer "check if you're pre-qualified" tools on their websites. These run a soft pull, don't show on your report as a hard inquiry, and don't affect your score.

A pre-qualification from Chase, Amex, or Capital One doesn't guarantee approval — the actual application still does a hard pull. But a pre-qualification strongly correlates with approval (~80% of pre-qualified apps get approved) so it's a good signal.

Run pre-qualification checks before applying. If you're not pre-qualified for a target card, the hard inquiry from the full application is likely wasted.

CLI requests — hard vs soft by issuer

| Issuer | CLI type | |---|---| | Discover | Soft | | Capital One | Soft (usually) | | American Express | Soft | | Apple Card (Goldman) | Soft | | Barclays | Soft (usually) | | Bank of America | Varies — often soft | | Chase | Hard | | Citi | Hard (usually) | | Wells Fargo | Hard | | US Bank | Hard |

Soft-pull CLI requests are free score wins. Run them every 6 months on all eligible issuers — every bump increases your total limit, which lowers your ongoing utilization.

Common misconception: "checking my score hurts my score"

Only hard inquiries affect your score, and you can't do a hard inquiry on yourself. Using Credit Karma, myFICO, your bank's free score feature, Experian's app, or AnnualCreditReport.com is always a soft pull. Check as often as you want.

When dispute activity shows as inquiry

Filing a dispute with a bureau creates a soft inquiry from the bureau on itself (internal tracking). Doesn't affect your score. Identity theft fraud alerts can generate soft inquiries from the bureau as they verify — also no score impact.

Bottom line

• Hard inquiries cost ~5 FICO points, ~3 VantageScore points. Fades after 12 months.
• Rate-shopping windows protect auto/mortgage/student loans, not credit cards.
• Run soft-pull CLIs every 6 months. Free limit increases are free score improvements.
• Checking your own score is always a soft pull. Monitor as often as you want.