When do inquiries drop off credit report

Hard inquiries serve as a timeline of when you have applied for new credit and may stay on your credit report for two years, although they typically only affect your credit scores for one year.

Depending on your unique credit history, hard inquiries could indicate different things to different lenders. Recent hard inquiries on your credit report tell a lender that you are currently shopping for new credit. This may be meaningful to a potential lender when assessing your creditworthiness. The period of time may vary depending on the credit scoring model used, but it's typically from 14 to 45 days. This allows you to check different lenders and find out the best loan terms for you.

But people who have short credit histories or few accounts may see a bigger change. Particularly if you are taking out a mortgage, wait until after closing to apply for new credit. The leasing agent may check your credit. And then you may apply for financing for furniture.

Then you decide you want a card with travel rewards, so you apply for a couple of those. That could be four credit inquiries within a short period, and it could result in a lower score. Statistics cited by FICO show that people with six or more recent inquiries are eight times as likely to file for bankruptcy as those with none, and scoring formulas reflect that.

If a hard inquiry on your credit report is inaccurate, you can dispute it as you would any other credit report error. Review what's listed and watch out for anything you don't recognize. It's not always possible to prevent identity theft, but as you keep track of your credit history, you'll be in a better position to stop a difficult situation from getting much worse.

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