what s more fico says its scoring models ignore inquiries relating to mortgage auto and student loans made in the 30 days prior to scoring so if you find a loan within 30 days the inquiries won t affect your scores while you re rate shopping 2
the reason for these exceptions is that you are presumably looking for a single loan at the best possible terms not trying to obtain multiple loans at the same time unlike hard inquiries soft credit inquiries have no effect on your credit score hard inquiry vs soft inquiryin addition to hard inquiries lenders and other interested businesses can make so called soft inquiries to request your credit reports unlike a hard inquiry a soft inquiry is not triggered by your applying for credit in fact you may not even know it is happening examples of soft inquiries include requests by your current creditors to see your file or by prospective lenders that are looking for good prospects for credit card offers a process known as prescreening when you request your own credit report that s considered a soft inquiry as well 4if your employer or a potential employer requests your credit report that also counts as a soft inquiry however you will most likely know about it because employers are required to get your permission in writing first 5soft inquiries have no effect on your credit score they can appear on your credit report transunion says but only you will be able to see them 6other information lenders may requestwhile your credit report contains a lot of information about your use of credit it doesn t tell potential lenders or other interested parties everything they might want to know about your financial situation for example it doesn t include your income nor does it have information on your investments or other assets such as bank accounts if a lender wants that information it will have to obtain it in some other way such as by asking questions on your loan application and requesting satisfactory back up such as pay stubs tax forms investment statements and bank statements 7credit reports also lack certain personal information such as your marital status education and medical history 7in addition your credit report does not contain your credit score which lenders and others must obtain separately who can request your credit report who s allowed access to your credit report is governed by the fair credit reporting act according to the consumer financial protection bureau a consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need usually to consider an application with a creditor insurer employer landlord or other business employers must typically obtain your permission in writing 8