Credit inquiries can remain on a credit report for up to 2 years, there are hard inquiries and soft inquiries, one affects yourcredit score and one does not.
There are two types of credit inquiries. One is the soft inquiry and the other is a hard inquiry.
A soft inquiry occurs when you pull your own credit report or a creditor pulls your report to see how you are paying other obligations which is known as an “account review.” Soft inquiries do not affect your credit scores.
Hard inquiries affect your credit score and can remain on your credit report up to 2 years. Hard inquiries occur when you apply for credit or insurance and when a creditor or debt collector claims they have a permissible purpose for pulling your report.
If a debt collector has pulled your report you can guarantee they are looking to see how they can collect a debt from you.
Erasing credit inquiries
The credit reporting agencies will tell you that credit inquiries are just a statement of fact and cannot be removed. This is not true. FCRA Rules state that any information can be disputed and must be investigated. You need not worry about soft inquiries as they do not count against your credit score.
Credit inquiries made without your permission may indicate fraud, in which case the credit reporting agencies may put a fraud alert in your files. A fraud alert will make it difficult for anyone, including you, to access your credit report without your permission.
Dispute the Inquiry with the Source
If an inquiry has occurred without your permission or is unauthorized it is best to contact the creditor or collection agency and ask them their “permissible purpose.” You can also dispute the inquiry with the credit reporting agency; but, disputing the inquiry with the source usually works better. Credit inquiries that did not result in credit being granted or a loan are sometimes deleted because lenders do not always keep record of denied applications.
Pre-Approved Offers
When you receive a “pre-approved” offer in the mail, this means a bank or credit card company has screened your credit and made a soft inquiry. However, even when you receive a pre-approved credit offer in the mail and you respond, a hard inquiry will most likely be pulled. This means a hard inquiry will be added to your credit files and points will be deducted from your credit score.
Hard credit inquiries can be harmful
Credit grantors view too many credit inquiries as a sign of financial trouble. The creditor has no way of knowing if you were approved for all of the credit you applied for. Your credit inquiry does not indicate approval or denial. They may assume you received the credit lines that are showing as inquiries. Additionally hard credit inquiries take away points from your credit score. Too many hard inquiries could result in a denial of credit and bring down your credit score.
Mortgage and Auto loan inquiries
It is wise to shop around for the best interest rates when making a major purchase such as a house or automobile. But shopping around for the best rates may result in many inquiries during the shopping phase. The credit reporting agencies supposedly have a buffer to prevent your credit scores from taking a dive for too many inquiries when shopping around for interest rates.
All inquiries related to a mortgage loan or auto loan done within a 14-day period are counted as one inquiry. The issue with this is that the inquiries are supposed to indicate a mortgage or auto inquiry on your credit report but there is no way of knowing if a lender or bank has noted that inquiry correctly. Just be informed and ask your lender before applying, especially at a car dealership. They may run your credit through many lenders in order to get you approved.
How long do inquiries remain on your credit report
All credit inquiries remain on your credit report for two years and should drop off automatically when the two years as expired. Most hard inquiries hold less weight on your credit after 12 months.
Is disputing credit inquiries worth the time
If the credit inquiry is really a mystery to you and you don’t recall requesting credit then you should initiate an investigation with the credit reporting agencies. It could be a matter of fraud and you want to handle that immediately. A fraud alert may be put in your files in order to protect you. Fraud alerts will also keep you from applying for credit easily. Most credit grantors disregard credit inquiries after 6 months. While they do remain on your credit reports for 2 years, they are not heavily weighed in decisions to grant credit.
Your time may be better spent disputing other types of information that would significantly raise your credit score if deleted. Disputing credit inquiries that actually belong to you may prove detrimental to your credit account and credit reports.
You run the risk of your account being closed and your credit report being flagged with a fraud alert. As stated above, having fraud alerts placed on all of your credit reports is very cumbersome and difficult to deal with when applying for credit. Fraud alerts should only be utilized if actual fraud has taken place.
