Saturday, January 19, 2013

How Long Do Inquiries Affect Your FICO?

FICO scores are a three-digit representation of a borrower's credit report. The higher the score, the better the credit. Lenders and employers use this score when evaluating an individual for creditworthiness and employment. Inquiries can affect FICO scores.

Personal Inquiries

    When a consumer orders his credit report and score, it is recorded as a "soft" inquiry. The request will not affect his FICO and is invisible to creditors or employers when reviewing his report. The inquiry will remain on his report for two years.

Employer Inquiries

    Employers often order credit reports and FICO score reports when interviewing potential candidates. This is also a "soft" inquiry and is invisible to any third party. As with a personal inquiry, the request remains on the report for two years.

Credit Inquires

    Credit inquires for things such as loans, credit cards or mortgages are "hard" inquiries. These requests are visible to anyone viewing the credit report and will remain on the report for two years.

Disputing Inquiries

    Consumers can dispute inquiries made to credit reports that they did not authorize. When the consumer is successful in the dispute the inquiry is removed before the two-year automatic expiration.

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