A hard inquiry stays on your credit report for two years from the date a lender pulls your file, but it only affects your credit score for the first 12 months. After that, the inquiry is still visible on your report but has no effect on your numerical score. For most people, a single hard inquiry drops a FICO score by fewer than five points.1myFICO. Do Credit Inquiries Lower Your FICO Score
Two Years on the Report, One Year on Your Score
All three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, keep hard inquiries on your file for 24 months from the date of the credit check. At the two-year mark, the inquiry drops off automatically. You do not need to request removal, and there is nothing you can do to speed it up if the inquiry is legitimate.
The scoring window is shorter. FICO factors a hard inquiry into your score only during the first 12 months it appears on your report.1myFICO. Do Credit Inquiries Lower Your FICO Score An inquiry that is 13 to 24 months old still shows up when a lender pulls your report, but it contributes zero points to your score. Scoring models weight recent applications heavily because they say more about your current financial behavior than something you did over a year ago.
How Much a Hard Inquiry Actually Lowers Your Score
The typical hit is small. Most people lose fewer than five FICO points from a single hard inquiry.1myFICO. Do Credit Inquiries Lower Your FICO Score The exact number depends on the rest of your credit profile. A long history with several accounts absorbs the impact easily. A thin file with few accounts feels each inquiry more.
Scores usually recover within a few months as long as you keep the rest of your credit in good shape. If you actually opened the account you applied for and start making on-time payments, the recovery is faster, because positive payment history outweighs the small inquiry penalty.
The picture changes with volume. According to FICO, people with six or more inquiries on their reports are statistically up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with none.1myFICO. Do Credit Inquiries Lower Your FICO Score That is why scoring models penalize a high number of applications: a burst of inquiries can suggest financial distress.
Rate Shopping Counts as One Inquiry
If you are comparing offers for a mortgage, auto loan, or student loan, scoring models give you room to shop. Multiple hard inquiries for the same type of loan within a short window count as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.
The window depends on the model. Older FICO versions use 14 days. Newer FICO versions use 45 days.2myFICO. How to Rate Shop and Minimize the Impact to Your FICO Scores VantageScore uses 14 days but applies the deduplication more broadly, including to credit cards. Because you usually cannot tell which model a given lender uses, finishing your rate shopping within 14 days is the safest approach. Every inquiry still appears on your report individually, but only one affects your score during that window.
These protections apply to mortgages, auto loans, and student loans under FICO. Credit card applications are always scored individually under FICO models, so applying for two cards in the same week counts as two inquiries.2myFICO. How to Rate Shop and Minimize the Impact to Your FICO Scores
Soft Inquiries Do Not Count
Not every credit check is a hard inquiry, and only hard inquiries touch your score. A soft inquiry happens when you check your own credit, a company pre-screens you for a promotional offer, an employer runs a background check, or an existing lender reviews your account. Soft inquiries never affect your score, and other lenders cannot see them. Checking your own report as often as you like carries no risk to your score.
If You See an Inquiry You Do Not Recognize
You can pull free copies of your credit report each week from all three bureaus through AnnualCreditReport.com, and Equifax provides six additional free reports per year through 2026.3Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports The inquiry section near the end of the report lists every company that pulled your file and the date of each pull. Compare those entries to applications you actually submitted.
If an inquiry does not match anything you authorized, you can dispute it with the bureau that lists it, either online through the bureau’s dispute portal or by certified mail. Under 15 U.S.C. ยง 1681i, the bureau has 30 days to investigate, or 45 days if you provide additional information during the investigation.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy The bureau contacts the company that made the inquiry and asks it to verify authorization. If it cannot, the inquiry must come off your report.5Federal Trade Commission. Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports
One boundary worth knowing: you cannot dispute an inquiry that is accurate and authorized, even if you now regret the application. Federal law is explicit that neither you nor a credit repair company can remove accurate, current, and verifiable information from a report.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1679c – Disclosures A legitimate hard inquiry runs its full two years and then falls off on its own.