 TITLE: Do Multiple Loan Inquiries Affect Your Credit Score? CONTENT: How Long Do Hard Inquiries Remain on Credit Reports?\n----------------------------------------------------\nConsumers benefit from being able to see who accessed their credit reports, and when. Hard inquiries can remain on your credit reports for as long as two years, but, from a credit scoring perspective, hard inquiries are only a factor if they are less than 12 months old.\nFICO® and VantageScore credit scoring systems will not consider hard inquiries once they have become 12 months old. As such, while hard inquiries may remain on your credit reports for 24 months, they cease to have any influence on your credit scores during months 12 to 24, if they even had any influence in the first place.\nWhile it is important to understand the inquiries that appear on your credit reports and how they can influence your credit scores, it's also important to keep their relevance in perspective. Some hard inquiries will lower your credit scores; some hard inquiries will not.\nIf you're not sure whether you have hard or soft inquiries on your Experian credit report, you can check your report for free. If your credit scores have been lowered as a result of credit inquiries or something more concerning, such as late payments or excessive credit card debt, there are steps you can take to improve your credit. In addition to making all payments on time and paying down debt, you can have utility, phone and streaming services added to your Experian credit report with Experian Boost™† to improve your Experian credit scores. Keeping an eye on your credit and getting credit for your positive bill payments could help you improve both FICO® and VantageScore credit scores at the same time. END