Can you remove hard inquiries from your credit report?
Key takeaways
- A hard inquiry happens when a company checks your credit report because you have applied for credit.
- You can dispute hard inquiries you didn’t authorize, but you cannot remove legitimate credit checks.
- Unauthorized hard inquiries can be a warning sign of identity theft.
When you check your credit report, you might notice it lists one or more hard inquiries. Hard inquiries provide a record of which lenders checked your credit report, and when.
Since hard credit inquiries can temporarily drop your score, you may wonder how to get them removed. It’s not possible to remove a legitimate hard inquiry, but you can file a dispute if you never authorized the check.
What is a credit inquiry?
A credit inquiry, sometimes known as a credit pull, is a request to look at your credit report. Inquiries happen when individuals or companies want to know more about your financial health, specifically whether you have paid loans or credit cards as agreed.
Inquiries are divided into two categories — soft and hard — based on the reason for the inquiry. The two types of inquiries have very different effects on your credit score.
Soft inquiries
A soft inquiry happens when someone checks your credit history, but not because of any specific credit application. Some scenarios that could trigger a soft inquiry include:
- Checking your own credit: When you examine your credit report, you’re not taking action to add more debt to your life.
- Getting preapproved offers: Lenders run a soft credit check to screen customers for credit card or loan offers.
- Looking for a new job: Some employers check applicants’ credit, and the pre-employment credit check counts as a soft pull.
- Renting an apartment: Most landlord credit checks are soft pulls.
Hard inquiries
A hard inquiry happens when a creditor or lender takes a detailed look at your credit file to decide whether to offer you credit. Scenarios that could trigger a hard inquiry include:
- Applying for a loan: When you apply for a mortgage, auto loan, student loan or credit card, the creditor wants to know your history of paying off debt. That helps them decide if you can pay off any debt they might issue.
- Asking for a credit limit increase: If you ask for a higher limit on your credit card or credit line, the lender may perform a hard credit check to determine your eligibility.
- Getting a cellphone: When you finance a new phone or apply for a phone plan with a monthly contract, the carrier may run a hard credit check to confirm you can pay the bill.
How do credit inquiries affect your credit score?
A soft inquiry will not affect your credit score. That’s because soft inquiries are used for informational purposes rather than for lending decisions. A soft pull will pop up on your credit report, but you’re the only one who sees it.
Hard credit checks, on the other hand, will affect your credit. That’s because they show you’re looking to borrow money. Fortunately, the effect is minimal: A single credit score pull will typically drop your score by less than five points. And when you’re shopping around for a home, student or auto loan, multiple hard inquiries are usually counted as one.
Several hard pulls in a short time can have a more dramatic impact on your score because it suggests you’re having financial trouble and could be a risky borrower. People with six inquiries or more on their credit reports can be up to eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than those without inquiries.
Whether you have one hard pull on your credit report or several, they’ll stay on your credit report for two years. However, they typically only affect your score for a year.
How do you dispute a hard inquiry?
Legitimate hard credit checks can’t be disputed. If you applied for credit and authorized the lender or credit card company to look into your financial background, you cannot remove the resulting inquiry from your credit report. The hard inquiry provides timely, accurate information about your behavior as a borrower.
The situation is different if you didn’t authorize the hard credit check. If this is the case, you can — and should — take steps to remove the inquiry from your report. Here’s how to dispute an unauthorized hard pull, step by step.
1. Notify the creditor that made the inquiry
Contact that company to report the issue and determine who authorized the hard credit pull. It may have been done by mistake. For example, the company may have intended to run a soft pull for sending a preapproved credit card offer but accidentally ran a hard pull. Or, it may have been another customer with a similar name or Social Security number who applied for the loan.
If the company can’t prove you authorized the inquiry, it should contact the credit bureaus to get the incorrect hard credit check removed from your credit report.
2. Tell the credit bureaus
Even if the creditor that reported the incorrect information says it will get the error fixed, it’s a good idea to contact the credit bureaus yourself. You have the right to dispute inaccurate information on your credit report and don’t need to rely on the company to do it for you.
To dispute the error, contact each bureau displaying the incorrect information on your report. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion accept disputes by mail, by phone or through their websites. Be sure to follow the relevant bureau’s instructions for filing your dispute.
3. Wait for a response
After filing a dispute, the credit bureau has 30 days to investigate your claim. During that time, the bureau will contact the creditor that reported the hard credit check. Once the investigation is complete, the credit bureau has five days to notify you of its decision.
If you’re successful in your dispute, it can take some time for the changes to appear. Keep an eye on your credit report to confirm the hard credit check is removed.
Do unauthorized hard inquiries mean identity theft?
A hard inquiry you don’t recognize isn’t always a simple mistake. Sometimes, a hard credit check occurs when someone steals your personal information and tries to take out credit accounts in your name.
Besides unauthorized hard pulls, some other potential warning signs of identity theft include:
- Accounts you didn’t open showing up on your credit report
- Bank or credit card transactions you don’t recognize
- Bills for debt you never borrowed
- Sudden drops in your credit score
- Unexpected calls from debt collectors
- Unexpected denials of loan applications
Identity theft is a crime. You should report the incident if you believe someone stole your personal information to take out credit in your name. The Federal Trade Commission’s IdentityTheft.gov website helps consumers report identity theft and provides multiple action steps to help you get through the process and develop a recovery plan.
How to prevent unauthorized hard inquiries
You can take some proactive steps to prevent unauthorized hard inquiries from impacting your credit — and the credit consequences of these inquiries.
Check your credit reports regularly
The best way to keep an eye on hard and soft pulls on your credit is to check your credit reports consistently. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have the right to one free credit report from each credit bureau every year.
Currently, the credit bureaus have committed to making free credit reports available weekly. To take advantage of this, visit AnnualCreditReport.com. The website will ask you a few questions and direct you to the three credit bureaus where you can download your credit reports.
Keep an eye on your credit score
Accessing your FICO score, VantageScore or both is a good idea. You can find this information by signing up for credit monitoring from one (or all) of the three bureaus. You may already have access to free credit updates through your bank or credit card company.
Anytime you see an unexpected drop in your credit scores, investigate the cause. Look for any hard inquiries that seem unfamiliar and follow up with the bureaus if you notice anything suspicious.
Place fraud alerts on your credit accounts
Fraud alerts are helpful if you are or may be a victim of identity theft. When you request a fraud alert on your credit report, lenders or credit card companies know to check with you before providing a loan or issuing a new credit card in your name. The alert means others must take reasonable steps to ensure you authorize a credit check or financial inquiry.
You can request a fraud alert from any of the three credit bureaus. Once the alert is placed, the other two are automatically notified.
Freeze your credit
Freezing your credit means asking the credit bureaus to put a lock on your report. It helps protect you from identity theft by preventing creditors from accessing your credit reports and stopping lenders from issuing new credit in your name. Under federal law, you can freeze and unfreeze your credit anytime online or by phone. Be sure to request a freeze with all three bureaus.
A freeze will also prevent legitimate creditors from checking your credit report or score. If you are trying to get a new loan or credit card, remember to unfreeze your credit temporarily to ensure you can get approved.
The bottom line
Hard credit inquiries happen when banks, credit card companies and other lenders check your credit to determine whether to extend you credit. A hard pull hurts your credit score, but fortunately, the effect is short-lived.
You can remove hard pulls from your credit report if they were made or reported in error. However, if you didn’t authorize the hard credit check, it’s a good idea to file a dispute and get the error corrected, either by yourself or with the help of a credit repair company. Since unauthorized hard pulls can be a sign of identity theft, keep a close eye on your finances and consider placing a fraud alert on your credit.
