Hard inquiries, also known as hard pulls, stay on your credit report for up to two years. However, their impact on your credit score typically lasts only about one year. After that, while the inquiry remains visible on your report, it usually no longer affects your score
. Key points about hard inquiries:
- They occur when you apply for new credit, such as a credit card, mortgage, auto loan, or personal loan
- Although they remain on your credit report for two years, credit scoring models like FICO generally consider only inquiries from the past 12 months when calculating your score
- A single hard inquiry usually lowers your credit score by around five points or less, with the effect diminishing over time
- Multiple inquiries in a short period (usually within 14 to 45 days) for the same type of loan are often counted as one inquiry to minimize impact
- You cannot remove legitimate hard inquiries from your credit report before they naturally fall off after two years, but you can dispute any unauthorized or incorrect inquiries
In summary, hard inquiries remain on your credit report for two years but typically affect your credit score only for the first year. After that, their influence fades, and they eventually disappear from your report after two years
