 TITLE: Do Multiple Loan Inquiries Affect Your Credit Score? CONTENT: The Difference Between Hard and Soft Inquiries\n----------------------------------------------\nAll inquiries that appear on your credit reports fall neatly within one of two categories: soft inquiries or hard inquiries. A soft inquiry does not normally represent a formal application of credit, but indicates that your credit report was pulled by either an existing creditor or a company that wants to make you a firm offer of credit or insurance. They also can include a record of you requesting your own report and requests for employment purposes. Because they are not the result of a credit application, soft inquiries do not affect your credit score.\nHard inquiries normally occur when a consumer formally applies for some form of credit, like an auto loan, a mortgage or a credit card. These inquiries can remain on your credit reports for up to two years. Hard inquiries are seen by credit scoring systems and can cause you to have a lower score, but not always. To the extent an inquiry does cause you to have a lower score, the impact of the inquiry will not last more than 12 months and any impact is minimal. END