With years of experience and a passion for helping clients achieve their financial goals, our team is committed to guiding you on your journey to credit recovery and financial success.
Reviewed By:
Ashley Davison
Ashley Davison
Editor
Ashley is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Saint, previously the Chief Operating Officer. Ashley got into the Financial world by working as a Logistics Coordinator at Ernst & Young. Coming from a previous career in education, she is eager to teach the world every...
The answer depends on the type of inquiry — and the difference matters more than most people realize.
The short answer: checking your own credit score does not hurt it. The longer answer involves understanding why — and how hard inquiries from lenders work differently. Your credit score is affected by what type of inquiry is being made, not by whether your report is being reviewed.
Understanding this distinction also matters when it comes to what’s already on a credit report. Unauthorized hard inquiries, or hard inquiries reported with inaccurate information, may be eligible for challenge under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Credit Saint reviews reports across all three bureaus and, with your authorization, may challenge inquiries and other entries that don’t accurately reflect your credit history. We’ve helped more than 250,000 Americans work toward more accurate credit reports since 2007. We’ve got this.
Key Takeaways
1 in 5 consumers have identified errors on their credit reports — and unauthorized or inaccurate hard inquiries are among the entries that may be eligible for challenge (FTC, 2013).
Soft inquiries — including checking your own credit report — have no impact on a credit score and are not visible to lenders.
Hard inquiries occur when a lender reviews credit as part of a formal application; they may temporarily lower a score by a small number of points and remain on the report for up to two years.
Credit Saint reviews your reports across all three bureaus and, with your authorization, may challenge hard inquiries that appear unauthorized or inaccurately reported.
Concerned about inquiries or other entries on your credit report? Start with a free credit review — our specialists take a thorough look at what’s there.
Soft Inquiries vs. Hard Inquiries: The Core Distinction
The impact of any credit check depends on which type of inquiry it is. The two types work very differently.
Soft Inquiries
A soft inquiry — also called a soft pull — occurs when a credit report is accessed for informational purposes rather than as part of a formal credit application. Common examples include:
Checking your own credit score or report through a credit monitoring service or personal finance app
Pre-approved credit card or loan offers
Employment background checks
Insurance company credit checks
Soft inquiries have no impact on a credit score and are not visible to lenders reviewing the report. Reviewing a personal credit report regularly is a sound practice for catching errors or signs of identity theft — and it carries no score consequence.
Hard Inquiries
A hard inquiry — also called a hard pull — occurs when a lender reviews a credit report as part of a formal application for new credit. This happens when applying for a credit card, mortgage, auto loan, personal loan, or in some cases an apartment rental.
Hard inquiries are visible to other lenders and may temporarily lower a credit score by a small number of points. The impact is typically minor and tends to diminish over the following months, though the inquiry itself may remain on the report for up to two years.
Why Hard Inquiries Affect a Score
Credit scoring models, including FICO and VantageScore, treat hard inquiries as an indicator that a consumer may be seeking to take on additional debt. One or two hard inquiries over a year are generally not considered a significant risk signal. A higher number of hard inquiries in a short period may be interpreted by scoring models as an indication of elevated credit risk — though the impact of any individual inquiry is typically small.
One exception to note: when shopping for the best rate on a mortgage, auto loan, or student loan, multiple hard inquiries for the same loan type within a defined window — typically 14 to 45 days depending on the scoring model — are often treated as a single inquiry. This rate-shopping window allows comparison without compounding inquiry penalties.
Unauthorized or Inaccurate Hard Inquiries
Not all hard inquiries on a credit report are legitimate. Hard inquiries that were not authorized by the consumer — for example, resulting from identity theft or a creditor checking credit without a permissible purpose — may be eligible for challenge under the FCRA. An inquiry that is inaccurately dated or attributed may also be disputable.
Credit Saint reviews hard inquiry entries across all three bureaus and, with client authorization, may challenge those that appear unauthorized or inaccurately reported. For a detailed overview of how inquiry disputes work, see our guide on how to address inquiries on your credit report.
How Credit Saint Reviews Inquiry-Related Entries
Inquiries are one of the five factors in FICO scoring, and unauthorized or inaccurately reported ones may be suppressing a score beyond what is warranted. That’s where Credit Saint’s review process applies.
Credit Saint is BBB accredited, holds a 4.8-star Google rating from more than 15,000 reviews, and has been ranked #1 by Money.com, ConsumerAffairs, and CNBC. We’ve served more than 250,000 Americans since 2007. Over 96.4% of clients see results in the first 90 days, based on paying Credit Saint clients from May 2025 who had one or more items removed. Individual results vary.
Our specialists review your reports across Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. We identify hard inquiries and other entries that may be inaccurate, unauthorized, or unverifiable. With your authorization, we prepare and submit disputes and pursue follow-up disputes as appropriate. You review the findings. You authorize each challenge. We handle every step from there.
Depending on the complexity of your situation, our team works with you through the appropriate service level:
Credit Polish — for those beginning to address credit challenges
Credit Remodel — for moderate situations with multiple reporting concerns
Clean Slate — for complex, comprehensive situations requiring the most thorough approach
Want to know if there are unauthorized or inaccurate inquiries on your report? Start your review with Credit Saint — our specialists assess your full report and discuss what may be worth challenging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Checking your own credit score generates a soft inquiry, which has no impact on the score — regardless of how frequently it is checked. Soft inquiries are not visible to lenders and carry no score consequence. Many credit monitoring services and some financial institutions offer free access to credit scores.
No. Only hard inquiries — initiated by lenders as part of a formal credit application — may have a temporary, minor score impact. Soft inquiries, including personal credit checks and pre-approval reviews, have no score impact and are not visible to lenders.
A hard inquiry may remain on a credit report for up to two years. Its impact on a score typically diminishes after a few months, even while the inquiry itself remains on the report. If a hard inquiry appears to be unauthorized or inaccurately reported, it may be eligible for challenge under the FCRA.
Yes — a hard inquiry that was not authorized by the consumer, or that is inaccurately reported, may be eligible for challenge under the FCRA. Credit Saint reviews hard inquiry entries across all three bureaus and, with client authorization, may challenge those that appear unauthorized or inaccurate. Over 96.4% of clients see results in the first 90 days, based on paying Credit Saint clients from May 2025 who had one or more items removed. Individual results vary.
Start Working on Your Credit Today
Checking your own credit report does not hurt your score — and reviewing it regularly is a sound way to catch errors, unauthorized inquiries, or signs of identity theft. When hard inquiries appear on a report without authorization, or are reported inaccurately, those entries may be eligible for challenge.
Credit Saint has worked with more than 250,000 Americans to review and may challenge inaccurate credit report entries since 2007. You authorize every step. Our specialists handle every step from there.
Ready to see what’s on your credit report?Contact Credit Saint today for a free credit consultation — we review your report and handle every step from here.
Reviewed By:
Ashley Davison
Editor
Ashley is currently the Chief Compliance Officer for Credit Saint, previously the Chief Operating Officer. Ashley got into the Financial world by working as a Logistics Coordinator at Ernst & Young. Coming from a previous career in education, she is eager to teach the world everything she knows and learn everything that she doesn’t! Ashley is a FICO® certified professional, a Board Certified Credit Consultant, a Certified Credit Score Consultant with the Credit Consultants Association of America, UDAAP certified, and holds a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Compliance Certificate.
