 TITLE: What Are Inquiries On Your Credit Report? CONTENT: How Do Credit Inquiries Work?\n-----------------------------\nWhen deciding whether to extend you credit—and if so, how much and at what interest rate—lenders typically obtain your credit report from one or more of the three national consumer credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). Your credit report offers a summary of your debts and payment history on those debts.\nAs part of their evaluation process, creditors often also obtain one or more credit scores: three-digit numbers derived from statistical analysis of your credit report's contents. A higher score indicates lower likelihood you'll fail to repay your debts. When you apply for credit or services such as a cellphone account, your application usually indicates that you are giving the lender permission to do a credit check. When lenders run those credit checks, hard inquiries appear on your credit report.\nCertain companies are also legally allowed to access your credit information for reasons other than an application you made, such as when your current lenders periodically check your reports or when a potential lender sends you a preapproved offer.\nEmployers may also check your credit history with your written permission, although they will not receive a credit score. In addition, you may check your own credit reports and credit scores, and it's wise to do so regularly—these checks have no effect on your credit rating. Credit checks such as these, which are not related to credit applications, generate soft inquiries on your credit report. END