Multiple credit inquires concern many prospective home buyers and homeowners. The impact of multiple credit inquiries all depends on when your credit is pulled and what type of credit report is pulled.
Different Hard Inquiry Types
First, the type of credit inquiry matters. In fact, 4 different types of credit reports exist. They are:
- Consumer ( opens in a new windowwww.creditkarma.com)
- Mortgage
- Credit Card
- Auto
A major factor related to multiple credit inquires impacting credit score is credit report type. Having multiple like kind credit report inquires and having multiple not like kind credit report inquires impacts credit score differently. In fact, the 2 generally have complete opposite effects on a consumer’s credit score.
Like Kind Inquiries Safety Window
Secondly, the timeframe between credit report inquiries matters. Most notably, timeframe between like kind credit report inquiries is important. As long as your multiple like kind credit report inquiries occurs within 45 days of the first credit report inquiry there should be no negative impact on your credit score. For example:
- A mortgage lender pulls your credit on January 1st
- Another mortgage lender pulls your credit again on February 10th of that same year (41 days later)
- Your credit scores should suffer due to the additional like kind credit report inquiry
Intermittent Data Changes to your Score
While your score should not be impacted directly by multiple like kind inquires within 45 days. However, data changes to your credit profile during that same 45 days can impact your scores outside of the inquiries. The 45 day timeframe only protects your scores against the impact of multiple like kind credit inquiries.
Your scores can change from report to report based on your payment and balance history changing. For example, a missed payment between the 1st credit inquiry and the 2nd credit inquiry would likely lower your score due to the new and derogatory information.