Inquiries, specifically hard inquiries, stay on your credit report for up to two years. However, their impact on your credit score typically lasts for only about one year. Hard inquiries occur when a lender checks your credit during applications for loans, credit cards, or other major credit lines. After the first year, these inquiries usually no longer affect your credit score, even though they remain visible on the report for the full two years. Soft inquiries, such as checking your own credit or pre-approved offers, do not affect your credit score and may also appear but are less impactful. Key points:
- Hard inquiries remain on your credit report for 2 years.
- They typically impact your credit score for about 1 year.
- Multiple inquiries within a short period for the same type of loan are often treated as a single inquiry for scoring purposes.
- Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score.
This is the common practice reported by major credit bureaus and consumer finance experts.
