No, checking your own credit score does not make it go down. When you look at your own report or score, the credit bureaus log it as a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries are ignored by every scoring model.1Experian. What Is a Soft Inquiry? Your score only takes a hit when a lender pulls your file because you applied for new credit, which is called a hard inquiry. You can check as often as you want without any effect on your number.
Soft Inquiries: The Checks That Don’t Count
A soft inquiry happens any time your credit file is reviewed for a reason other than a fresh application for credit. Pulling your own report is the clearest example, but plenty of other everyday checks fall into the same category.2Equifax. Hard Inquiry vs Soft Inquiry: What’s the Difference? None of them affect your score.
Common soft inquiries include:
- Reviewing your own report through AnnualCreditReport.com, a credit monitoring service, or your bank’s app.
- Pre-approval screenings by a credit card issuer or mortgage lender checking whether you qualify for a promotional offer.
- Employer background checks, which require your written permission.
- Landlord screenings tied to a rental application, which are typically recorded as soft inquiries.3TransUnion. Hard vs Soft Inquiries: Different Credit Checks
- Periodic account reviews by lenders you already do business with.
Soft inquiries show up on the version of your report that only you can see. Lenders and other third parties pulling your file will not see them.1Experian. What Is a Soft Inquiry? The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees your right to see your own file, and federal law keeps that access completely separate from scoring.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports Checking often is actually one of the better habits for catching errors and spotting signs of identity theft early.
Hard Inquiries: What Actually Lowers Your Score
A hard inquiry is what happens when a lender pulls your full report because you formally applied for credit. Mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and personal loans all trigger hard inquiries. Because you are asking to take on new debt, scoring models treat the pull as a mild risk signal.
The point impact is smaller than most people expect. A single hard inquiry usually drops a FICO score by fewer than five points. VantageScore may drop by five to ten.5Experian. How Long Do Hard Inquiries Stay on Your Credit Report Either way, the dip is temporary. FICO only counts hard inquiries from the past 12 months, though the inquiry itself stays visible on your report for up to two years.6myFICO. Do Credit Inquiries Lower Your FICO Score? VantageScore may factor them in for the full 24 months, with the effect fading over time.
Hard inquiries are visible to any lender who pulls your report later. A cluster of them in a short period can make you look like someone taking on a lot of new debt fast, which is why scoring models track them at all.
Shopping for a Mortgage, Auto Loan, or Student Loan
Comparing rates does not mean each lender’s pull knocks another few points off your score. Scoring models bundle multiple inquiries for the same type of loan into a single event, as long as they fall inside a defined window. VantageScore uses 14 days. FICO allows up to 45.7TransUnion. How Rate Shopping Can Impact Your Credit Score
You will not know which model a given lender uses, so keeping all of your rate-shopping applications inside a 14-day stretch guarantees they count as one inquiry under either system. This protection only applies to rate shopping for a specific loan type. Applying for a mortgage and a new credit card in the same week does not qualify; those count separately.
How to Check Your Credit for Free
Federal law entitles you to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures The only federally authorized website for those requests is AnnualCreditReport.com.9USAGov. Learn About Your Credit Report and How to Get a Copy
All three bureaus currently go beyond the annual minimum and offer free weekly online reports through the same site.1Experian. What Is a Soft Inquiry? You can pull each report as often as once a week at no cost.
One thing to keep straight: a credit report and a credit score are not the same. The report is your detailed credit history. The score is a number calculated from that history. Many banks, credit card issuers, and free monitoring apps show your score on a rolling basis, and every one of those views is a soft inquiry.
If You See a Hard Inquiry You Didn’t Authorize
Checking your report can surface a hard inquiry from a company you never applied to. That may point to identity theft or a bureau error, and you have the right to dispute it.
File the dispute directly with the credit bureau showing the inquiry. Include your contact information, the specific inquiry you are challenging, why you believe it is inaccurate, and any supporting documents.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute an Error on My Credit Report? Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof of when the bureau received it.
The bureau generally has 30 days to investigate. That window stretches to 45 days if you filed after receiving your free annual report or if you submit additional information during the investigation.11Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does It Take to Repair an Error on a Credit Report? The bureau then has five business days to notify you of the results. If the inquiry cannot be verified, it must come off your report.
It also helps to contact the company that made the inquiry (the furnisher) and dispute it with them directly. Furnishers have 30 days after receiving your written dispute to investigate, and if they cannot verify the information, they must correct it and notify all three bureaus.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute an Error on My Credit Report?