How Long Do Credit Inquiries Stay on Your Credit Report?
Hard credit inquiries stay on your credit report for 24 months. Soft inquiries also stay 12–24 months depending on the bureau, but only you can see them — lenders cannot. The score impact of a hard inquiry tapers off after about 12 months, even though the inquiry remains visible. Here's the full breakdown by inquiry type.
Hard Inquiries: 24-Month Visibility, 12-Month Score Impact
A hard inquiry happens when you apply for new credit and a lender pulls your full credit report to underwrite the application. Triggers include:
- Credit card applications
- Auto loan applications
- Mortgage applications
- Personal loan applications
- Some apartment rental and cell-phone contract sign-ups
Visibility: 24 months from the date the inquiry was recorded. After 24 months, all three bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) automatically remove the inquiry.
Score impact: Maximum in months 0–3, decaying through months 4–12, then zero from month 13 onward. Even though the inquiry is visible until month 24, it stops counting against your FICO and VantageScore at the 12-month mark.
A single hard inquiry typically drops a score by 5–10 points for someone with established credit.
Soft Inquiries: 12–24 Months, Zero Score Impact
A soft inquiry is any credit-report pull that doesn't involve a credit application. Examples:
- Checking your own credit (Credit Karma, Experian, your bank app)
- Pre-approval marketing offers ("You're pre-approved for...")
- Employer background checks
- Insurance underwriting
- Existing creditors reviewing your account for credit-line increases
- Soft-pull products like the Current Build Card at application
Visibility: Soft inquiries appear on YOUR credit report only — lenders cannot see them. Most bureaus retain soft-inquiry records for 12–24 months.
Score impact: None. Ever. No matter how many times you check your own credit or how many pre-approval offers come in, your FICO and VantageScore are unaffected.
How to Tell If an Inquiry Is Hard or Soft
Pull your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com (free, weekly). Inquiries are listed in two sections:
- Inquiries shared with others = hard inquiries.
- Inquiries shown only to you = soft inquiries.
If you see a hard inquiry you don't recognize, dispute it through the bureau and consider placing a fraud alert.
Why the 24-Month Visibility Matters Even After Score Impact Ends
Lenders manually reviewing your application (especially mortgages, business loans, and high-limit credit cards) can see all inquiries from the past 24 months. They may consider:
- Whether you're "shopping around" too aggressively
- Whether multiple inquiries suggest financial distress
- Whether the timing of inquiries matches the timing of new accounts
For that reason, even after the score impact ends at month 12, it's worth not adding new hard inquiries unnecessarily through months 13–24.
Strategy for Managing Inquiry History
- Pre-qualify first. Most major issuers offer pre-qualification with a soft pull. Products like the Self Visa® Credit Card and the Self.Inc Credit Builder Account typically have approachable approval. The Current Build Card and Kikoff Secured Credit Card use soft pulls only.
- Bundle rate-shopping. Mortgage, auto, and student loan inquiries within a 14- to 45-day window count as one inquiry.
- Wait 6 months between credit card applications.
- Track your inquiry count. Stay below 3 hard inquiries per 6 months when possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do hard inquiries fall off after 12 months or 24 months?
Hard inquiries are visible on your credit report for 24 months. The score impact fades after 12 months, but the inquiry remains visible (to you and to lenders pulling your file) for the full 24-month window.
Do soft inquiries hurt my credit?
No. Soft inquiries have zero impact on your credit score. They appear on your report only to you — lenders cannot see them.
Can I remove an old credit inquiry from my report?
Legitimate inquiries cannot be removed early. They fall off automatically at the 24-month mark. Fraudulent or unauthorized inquiries can be disputed through the credit bureau and removed if confirmed.
Do all three bureaus show the same inquiries?
Usually no. A lender typically pulls your credit from only one bureau (or sometimes two), so an inquiry may appear on Experian but not on TransUnion or Equifax. Pull all three reports to see your full inquiry picture.
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