By know, you know that too many inquiries can hurt your credit score.



If you are trying to get a credit card with a really good rate, you may

have been shopping around for a while so that you can get the best

possible deal. Chances are, you may have found a few different cards that

you like, but there were a couple of things that you did not like about

each one. Sometimes, you will find one that you like but you have to

pay an annual fee. Other times, you will find one with no annual fee but

there will be really high late charges or other miscellaneous fees.

However, you should not be applying for all of these cards. Looking

through all of the terms for each one of them is one thing, but applying

for all of them is another. Were you aware that making a number of

inquiries could actually hurt your credit score? Well, it can and could

actually end up doing quite a bit more damage than you would think.

The truth of the matter is, every single time that you apply for a

credit card or inquire about any type of a loan or store credit, the

information will show up on your credit report. This is called a "hard

inquiry". A hard inquiry can actually drop your credit score by several

points. Many times, people will apply for different kinds of credit while

they are completely unaware that the inquiries are going against their

credit score. It is actually too bad that this information is not given

to these individuals up front so that better choices may be made.

Another common misunderstanding is that requesting a copy of your

credit report can actually hurt you. However, this type of an inquiry is

called a "soft inquiry" and should never count against your credit

score. If this kind of error ever shows up on your credit report and it is

showing against you, it is very important that you go through the steps

to resolve the error immediately.

Mortgage Inquiries

The credit reporting agencies have made one exception knowing that

today there are so many mortgage companies you can go to for a home

loan. They have made it that multiple mortgage inquiries made within 14

days are treated as one inquiry. You should try to do all your "rate

shopping" within a 30 day period. These inquires are generally not counted

against your score.

Many creditors will look to see the exact amounts of credit inquiries

that you do have on your credit report. Depending on the guidelines of

each creditor, four or more inquiries within a certain time frame of six

to nine months can be considered to be quite an excessive amount. If

they do deem this amount of credit inquiries as excessive, they could end

up denying your credit request. This request and denial will then show

up on your credit report along with any others that you may have. All

of these inquiries will hurt your credit score. So choose what you apply

for carefully and really think about whether or not this new credit

card or loan is worth dropping your credit score by a few points.