How much will a hard inquiry lower my credit score?

According to FICO, a hard inquiry will usually lower your credit score by less than five points. As time goes on, its influence on your score should diminish until it eventually won’t count at all.

How Long Do Hard Inquiries Stay On Your Credit Report?

5 Min Read | Published: May 8, 2024

A photo of a woman using laptop to check her credit report for the duration of hard inquiries.

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Gain insights into how long hard credit inquiries typically stay on your credit report and discover their potential impact on your credit score.

At-A-Glance

Hard inquiries may occur when a lender or creditor checks your credit after you apply for a loan or credit card.
They usually stay on credit reports for up to two years, but their impact is usually less than five points off your FICO^® Score.
Practicing good credit habits can help your credit score over time.

If you’ve ever applied for a credit card or a loan, there’s a good chance that the lender needed to pull your credit in the form of a hard credit check. This might have left you wondering about the potential impact that hard inquiries could have on your credit score.

While hard inquiries can have a negative impact on your credit score, that impact is usually minimal. In fact, typically, a hard inquiry will take less than five points off your FICO^® Score.¹ In this article, we’ll take a closer look at hard inquiries and see how long they stay on your credit report.

Hard Inquiries vs. Soft Inquiries

Also known as hard pulls, hard inquiries occur when you apply for a new loan or credit card. They mean that a lender or creditor reviewed your credit history to determine whether they should approve you for a loan or credit card. Doing a hard inquiry can inform them of your creditworthiness and give them an idea about how well you’re able to manage your payments. Unlike a soft inquiry, which may occur without your permission, a hard inquiry requires your authorization or permission first.

Hard Inquiries
Hard inquiries typically happen after you apply for a loan, credit card, or another form of credit. These inquiries typically impact your credit score since most of the credit scoring models will take into account how recently and frequently you applied for credit.²
Soft Inquiries
Soft inquiries are reviews of your credit file, including reviews of existing accounts by lenders, and prescreening inquiries by prospective lenders. They also happen when you request your own credit report. Soft inquiries will not impact your credit score.³

How Hard Inquiries Can Impact Your Credit Score

Hard inquiries can have a negative impact on your credit score. This is because opening several credit accounts in a short period of time represents greater credit risk.⁴ People who apply for new credit are considered to be riskier borrowers than those who do not. If you make too many hard inquiries in a short period of time, lenders and creditors may believe you’re shopping for loans and credit cards that you may not be able to pay back.⁵

Duration of Hard Inquiries

Credit reporting agencies will usually keep hard inquiries on your credit report for up to two years, but they shouldn’t impact your credit score for more than a year. And with FICO, that’s usually by less than five points.⁶ Fortunately, good credit habits can also help to improve your credit score over time.

Steps You Can Take to Help Reduce the Impact of Hard Inquiries

If you are concerned about the potential impact that hard inquiries could have on your credit score, consider these strategies.

Make timely payments
Pay your bills on time, every time. These include your mortgage, auto loan payments, credit cards, student loans, and any other bills that are reported to credit bureaus.
Reduce your credit utilization ratio
Your credit utilization ratio is the amount of available credit you’re currently using. It’s advisable to only use a sensible amount of available credit. Consider keeping it below 30%, or even in the single digits, if possible.⁷
Maintain a healthy credit mix
Credit mix refers to the different types of credit accounts you have, such as credit cards, personal loans, and mortgages. It may be a good idea to open different types of accounts so you can diversify.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Checking your own credit is considered a soft credit check. It will not have any impact on your credit scores.

According to FICO, a hard inquiry will usually lower your credit score by less than five points.⁸ As time goes on, its influence on your score should diminish until it eventually won’t count at all.

The 45-Day Safe Harbor Period means that FICO considers all mortgage, auto loan, and student loan inquiries as a single hard inquiry, as long as they occur within 45 days.⁹ This can allow you to shop around with minimal impact on your credit score.

The Takeaway

Hard inquiries are requests to check your credit reports by lenders and creditors. Unlike soft credit inquiries, they can lower your credit scores a bit. However, typically, their impact on your FICO Score will be less than five points.

^1,4,8,9 “Credit Checks: What Are Credit Inquiries and How Do They Affect Your FICO^® Score?,” myFICO

^2,3 “What’s a credit inquiry?,” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

^5,6 “What Is a Hard Inquiry and How Does It Affect Credit?,” Experian

⁷ “What Is a Credit Utilization Rate?,” Experian

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Anna Baluch is a personal finance writer from Cleveland, OH. She enjoys helping people from all walks of life make smart financial decisions. Her work can be seen on Credit Karma, Forbes, LendingTree, Insurify, and many other publications. Connect with Anna on LinkedIn.

All Credit Intel content is written by freelance authors and commissioned and paid for by American Express.

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