Every time someone gets a copy of your credit report, the bureau records an inquiry. Whether it can touch your score depends on why the report was pulled. If you started the check by applying for new credit, it is a hard inquiry. If a check happened for any other reason, it is soft: you checking yourself, a lender prescreening you for an offer, or your current card issuer reviewing your account. This page uses what FICO, the CFPB, the FTC and the Fair Credit Reporting Act say, checked October 22, 2026. Sources are at the bottom.

What counts as hard and what counts as soft

Sources: CFPB “What is a credit inquiry?” and “When can a credit card company look at my credit reports?” (reviewed September 24, 2024); myFICO “Credit Checks.” Checked October 22, 2026. The CFPB says soft inquiries “are shown only to you” when you review your own report.

The law behind this is the Fair Credit Reporting Act. A company can get your report only for a “permissible purpose” listed in 15 U.S.C. 1681b. One purpose is a credit transaction involving you, including “the extension of credit to, or review or collection of an account.” That covers both your application, which is hard, and your existing lender's account reviews, which are soft. The CFPB says that outside of those purposes, a company generally needs your permission, which you give when you apply.

How long they stay, and how long they count

Three time periods get mixed up:

• On your report: up to two years. FICO says hard inquiries stay on your credit report for up to two years.
• In your FICO Score: about one year. FICO only considers inquiries from the last 12 months. An application from 14 months ago is still listed but no longer scored.
• In your file disclosure: at least one year. When you request your file, 15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(3) requires the bureau to list everyone who got your report in the prior year. For employment purposes the period is two years.

How much an inquiry costs depends on the rest of your file. FICO says one additional inquiry takes fewer than five points off for most people. Inquiries can matter more if you have few accounts or a short history, and FICO notes that people with six or more inquiries can be up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with none. The whole “new credit” category, which includes inquiries and newly opened accounts, is about 10 percent of a FICO Score. See how credit scores are calculated.

FICO's rate-shopping rules

FICO treats three loan types differently because people normally compare several lenders for them: mortgages, auto loans and student loans. Two separate rules apply.

Source: myFICO “Credit Checks” and “How to Rate Shop and Minimize the Impact to Your FICO Scores,” checked October 22, 2026. The lender picks which FICO version is used, and FICO notes some lenders still use older versions. The CFPB states the same 14-to-45-day range (reviewed December 31, 2024).

A worked example. You get auto loan quotes from a credit union on March 1, a bank on March 9 and a dealer on March 20.

• Lender pulls a score on March 25 using a newer FICO version: all three inquiries are under 30 days old and ignored. Score impact from shopping: none.
• Lender pulls on May 15 using a newer version: the 30-day buffer has passed, but all three fall inside one 45-day span. They count as one inquiry.
• Lender pulls on May 15 using an older version: March 1 and March 9 fit one 14-day span. March 20 is 19 days after March 1, so it can count as a second inquiry. To be safe under every version, do all your shopping within 14 days.

The CFPB adds two limits. Shopping that spreads past 45 days, or across two loan types such as a mortgage and a car loan, generally counts as more than one inquiry.

Prequalification, preapproval and prescreened offers

These words do not tell you whether a check is hard or soft. The CFPB says lenders use “prequalification” and “preapproval” differently and may check your credit for either one. So the label tells you nothing on its own. Before you click submit, look in the lender's own disclosure for a statement that checking your offer will not affect your credit score, or ask the lender directly whether it is a hard or soft pull. If the page does not say, assume it is hard.

Two rules are fixed:

• A denial still gets you a notice. The CFPB says a lender that evaluates your creditworthiness and tells you that you do not qualify for a prequalification or preapproval must send an adverse action notice. That is true even if you never filed a formal application. If a credit report was used, the notice names the bureau and tells you about your right to a free copy within 60 days.
• Prescreened mail offers are soft. Card companies can buy lists from the bureaus to send firm offers of credit. The CFPB says your score is not affected by issuers getting your name this way. Accepting the offer means applying, and that is usually a hard inquiry.

A hard inquiry you don't recognize

Check the creditor's name first. An inquiry may be listed under a bank's legal name, or under a finance company a dealer sent your application to, rather than the store or dealer you dealt with. If you truly did not apply:

• Dispute it with the bureau that lists it. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681i the bureau must generally finish its investigation within 30 days. See how to dispute a credit report.
• Treat it as a possible sign of identity theft. Someone applying in your name is how fraud often first shows up. A freeze is free by law (15 U.S.C. 1681c-1) and stops most new lenders from getting your report until you lift it. See freeze vs lock vs fraud alert.
• Keep checking. Free weekly reports are available from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. See free credit reports.

An inquiry you authorized is accurate, so a dispute should not remove it. It will stop counting in FICO Scores after 12 months whatever you do.

How to apply without wasting inquiries

• Use soft-check prequalification tools first, and apply only where you look likely to be approved. For a new file, see cards for no credit.
• Space card applications out. FICO counts each one, and several on a thin file count more.
• Bunch loan shopping into 14 days for mortgage, auto and student loans, so every FICO version groups it.
• Do not avoid checking your own credit. It is always soft. Checking is how you catch errors and fraud.

FAQ

Sources

Only primary sources. Every rule and figure above comes from one of these pages, checked October 22, 2026.

1. myFICO, “Credit Checks: What are credit inquiries and how do they affect your FICO Score?” — myfico.com. Hard and soft definitions, under-five-point impact, two-year and 12-month periods, 14 and 45-day windows, 30-day buffer, six-inquiry statistic.
2. myFICO, “How to Rate Shop and Minimize the Impact to Your FICO Scores” — myfico.com/credit-education/blog/rate-shop. Loan types covered; credit card contrast; older versions still in use.
3. myFICO, “New Credit” — myfico.com. 12-month inquiry window.
4. CFPB, “What is a credit inquiry?” — consumerfinance.gov. Examples of soft inquiries.
5. CFPB, “What kind of credit inquiry has no effect on my credit score?” reviewed December 31, 2024 — consumerfinance.gov. 14-to-45-day range, 30-day rule, different loan types.
6. CFPB, “When can a credit card company look at my credit reports?” reviewed September 24, 2024 — consumerfinance.gov. Account reviews are soft; permission when you apply.
7. CFPB, “Does it hurt my credit score when I get unsolicited credit card offers?” reviewed September 24, 2024 — consumerfinance.gov. Prescreening does not affect scores.
8. CFPB, “What's the difference between a prequalification letter and a preapproval letter?” reviewed December 5, 2023 — consumerfinance.gov. Inconsistent terms, credit checks, adverse action on denial.
9. FTC, “What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance” — consumer.ftc.gov. Opt-out website, phone and permanent form.
10. 15 U.S.C. 1681b (permissible purposes; prescreening; opt-out duration) — law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681b.
11. 15 U.S.C. 1681g(a)(3) (inquiries in file disclosure) — law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681g.
12. 15 U.S.C. 1681i (30-day reinvestigation), 1681m (adverse action notice) and 1681c-1 (free security freeze) — 1681i, 1681m, 1681c-1.
13. FTC, “Free Credit Reports,” June 2026 — consumer.ftc.gov/articles/free-credit-reports. Weekly free reports.

Educational information, not financial advice. Scoring rules differ by model and version, and lenders choose which one to use; if something here no longer matches the source, tell us. · Advertiser disclosure

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