Hard vs. Soft Credit Inquiry
A hard inquiry happens when a lender checks your credit for a new application and can temporarily ding your score by a few points; a soft inquiry — checking your own score or a pre-qualification — doesn't affect it at all. Only hard inquiries are visible to lenders.
A hard inquiry typically costs a few points and stops affecting your score after about twelve months, though it remains visible on the report for two years. Rate shopping is deliberately protected: multiple mortgage, auto or student loan inquiries within a short window — 14 to 45 days depending on the scoring model — are counted as a single event, so comparing several lenders in the same fortnight is the intended behaviour rather than a penalty. Credit card applications get no such grouping and are counted individually. Checking your own report, a pre-qualification offer, and an employer or landlord screening are all soft inquiries, invisible to lenders and to your score.
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