Hard inquiries stay on your credit report for two years and impact your credit score for one year. Hard credit checks are part of doing business for many financial products, such as mortgages and personal loans.
Removing a hard inquiry would boost your score. Sometimes, wiping away a hard inquiry is possible, while some will stay on your report. This guide will explore what you need to know about taking hard credit checks off your credit profile.
What are Hard Inquiries?
Hard inquiries accumulate when creditors take a deeper look at your credit profile. During this process, a lender will analyze your payment history, financial obligations, and other details. Lenders can use credit reports and other documents to gather additional information, such as your debt-to-income ratio. Many financial products require hard credit checks because they help creditors understand each borrower’s level of risk.
The Difference Between Hard and Soft Inquiries
Hard credit inquiries are more detailed and will negatively impact your credit score. However, these credit checks are necessary to get many financial products since lenders want to make sure you will stay on top of your monthly payments.
Soft inquiries are usually reserved for small loan amounts and prequalifying for financial products. These soft credit pulls give lenders enough information for their needs and will not impact your credit score.
How Does a Hard Inquiry Show Up on Your Credit Report?
A hard inquiry shows up as an item on your credit report alongside other details like your payment history. Hard credit checks tell lenders when you recently applied for credit.
The Impact of Hard Inquiries on Your Credit Score
Creditors don’t like it if a borrower has applied for numerous credit lines within the past year. Lenders perceive these borrowers as riskier since they have requested additional money multiple times. Hard inquiries will hurt your score since they may indicate that a borrower needs more money to cover expenses and can’t pay future obligations. These financial events will stay on your credit report for two years, but a hard credit check stops affecting your score after one year.
Can You Get Hard Inquiries Removed?
It’s possible to get hard inquiries removed, but only if they are illegitimate. While a legitimate hard inquiry can technically get removed, the creditor and the credit bureau are not obligated to fulfill this request. You can ask anyway, but it’s not likely to happen. Furthermore, this item will only stay on your credit report for one year, so it may not be worth the effort to request that a legitimate hard inquiry be removed.
The Importance of Removing Hard Inquiries
It’s worth the effort to remove illegitimate hard inquiries since they are easier to get removed, and taking them off your report will improve your score. Having fewer hard credit checks show up on your report will indicate that you don’t need to borrow additional money to cover current expenses. Lenders may feel more confident approving your application if you remove false hard inquiries.
How Long Do Hard Inquiries Stay on Your Credit Report?
Hard inquiries stay on your report for two years but only impact your credit score for one year. Make sure you don’t rack up any extra hard credit checks unless absolutely necessary.
How to Remove Hard Inquiries
You can follow these steps to remove inaccurate hard inquiries from your credit report.
Obtain Your Credit Report
You can request a free copy of your credit report from one of the three major credit bureaus each year. Consumers can space out their requests with each bureau to receive a free copy of their report every four months.
Review the Hard Inquiries Section
Your credit report will showcase your payment history, hard inquiries, credit accounts, and other information. Check the hard inquiries to ensure their legitimacy. Credit reports can also help consumers discover identity theft. If you see anything suspicious on your credit report that indicates someone is using your identity to pull out credit lines, you should contact the fraud department of one of the three major credit bureaus.
Identify Unauthorized or Inaccurate Hard Inquiries
Your credit report may show some unauthorized or inaccurate hard inquiries. If you discover any of these inquiries, you can contact one of the major credit bureaus about them.
Disputing Unauthorized Hard Inquiries
Disputing unauthorized hard inquiries is a straightforward process. A representative or customer support can answer questions and guide you through the process, but here’s what you can expect.
Contacting the Creditor: What Information to Provide
You will have to write a letter to your creditor that explains why the hard inquiry is inaccurate. Including any pictures and documents supporting your case can make removing the erroneous item from your credit report easier.
Filing a Dispute with Credit Bureaus
Each credit bureau makes it easy to file a dispute through their online forms. These are the websites for each bureau where you can let them know about an inaccurate hard credit inquiry.
Working with Credit Improvement Services
You can contact the major credit bureaus on your own, but it can take a lot of time. Some consumers team up with credit improvement services instead. There are several pros and cons to working with these service providers.
Pros and Cons of Using Credit Repair Services
Pros:
- You can save a lot of time by having professionals do the work for you.
- Potentially receive a credit score boost after these credit repair services do their job.
- Some service providers also provide guidance on how to improve your credit score through other methods, such as building up a good payment history.
- Adding points to your credit score can help you qualify for various financial products and get better rates and terms.
- A higher credit score lets you borrow more capital, and credit repair services offer a quick fix.
Cons:
- Credit repair services are an additional expense that can impact your ability to pay monthly bills.
- You may have to work with a service provider for a few months.
- Credit repair services can’t improve your credit score if the hard credit checks are legitimate.
- You can save money if you are willing to do it yourself.
- The level of quality can vary considerably across credit repair services.
What to Look for in a Credit Repair Service
Consumers should look for credit repair services that have good reviews and a high rating from the Better Business Bureau. It’s also good to compare prices and review customer testimonials to see what types of results are possible. Credit repair services can help you file disputes with the major credit bureaus, but some of them offer additional services, such as credit counseling.
If you’re looking for a reliable and efficient company, The Credit Pros offers a range of services tailored to meet your specific needs. From disputing errors in your credit report to removing hard inquiries and late payments, their team of credit professionals is dedicated to helping you improve your credit score and overall financial situation.
By contacting The Credit Pros at (888) 558-1602 or filling out a form, you can get started on removing hard inquiries from your credit report with their expert guidance and personalized solutions. With their proven track record of fast and effective results, you can trust that they have the expertise to assist you in managing your credit accounts and achieving financial stability. Don’t let hard inquiries hold you back – contact The Credit Pros today to take control of your credit.
Conclusion: Preventing Hard Inquiries in the Future
Hard inquiries aren’t the worst thing that can happen to your credit report. The hard credit checks you accrue today won’t have any impact on your credit score after one year. Hard inquiries are also necessary for significant financial products like mortgages and auto loans.
However, you can minimize the number of hard inquiries you accumulate in the future. You should only apply for loans and lines of credit sparingly rather than using it as a default when expenses get tight. Reviewing your monthly budget and trimming your expenses can make you less reliant on opening new credit accounts to cover debt.
You can also get credit lines and loans with higher amounts, so you don’t have to submit applications for numerous small loans throughout the year. Some homeowners like to have a HELOC ready to go, even if they don’t intend to use it. Having a HELOC only results in one hard credit check, and it can keep you away from numerous $1,000 personal loans that each require hard inquiries.
Some small loans only require soft credit inquiries, which will not impact your credit score. Some unsecured credit card issuers also use soft pulls instead of hard pulls. Consumers can’t do much about legitimate hard credit inquiries that appear on their credit reports. However, it’s possible to change the script and minimize the amount of hard credit checks that show up on your credit profile moving forward.
FAQs About How to Remove Hard Inquiries
Hard inquiries can be removed, but it is more difficult to remove legitimate hard inquiries. Creditors and the major credit bureaus do not have to fulfill your request with legitimate cases. However, it’s much easier to remove illegitimate items from your credit report.
It takes two years for hard inquiries to be removed from your credit report. However, they only impact your credit score for one year. Credit bureaus can take 30-45 days to respond to disputes about inaccurate hard inquiries.
Removing hard inquiries can immediately improve your credit score, but each case is different.
