How to Remove Hard Inquiries from Your Credit Report
Learn when a hard inquiry is legitimate, when to dispute one, and how rate-shopping rules generally work.
How to Remove Hard Inquiries from Your Credit Report
A hard inquiry usually occurs when a business checks your report in connection with an application or another permissible purpose. It can remain on a report for up to two years, though FICO says inquiries are considered in its scores for 12 months. The scoring impact varies and cannot be reduced to a guaranteed number of points.
Review before disputing
Names on a report may differ from the brand where you applied because a lender uses an affiliate or financing partner. Compare the date with applications, apartment or utility requests, and other authorized transactions. Contact the listed company if you do not recognize it.
Dispute an inquiry when you reasonably believe it resulted from identity theft, was duplicated incorrectly, or lacked a permissible purpose. Identify the company and date and explain the issue. Also contact the company that accessed the report. If identity theft is involved, report it at IdentityTheft.gov and consider freezes or fraud alerts.
An inquiry you authorized generally cannot be removed merely because an application was denied or because it affected a score. Never make a false identity-theft claim.
Rate shopping
FICO models generally treat multiple mortgage, auto, and student-loan inquiries made within a shopping period as one inquiry for scoring. Depending on the model, that window is commonly 14 or 45 days. The inquiries can still be listed separately, and credit-card applications are not grouped this way.
Use prequalification when available and ask whether it uses a hard or soft inquiry, but remember that prequalification is not approval. Apply only when you understand the rates, fees, and need for the account.