Too many inquiries last 12 months

FICO code numbers

Code numbers can differ by bureau and score version. The wording of the statement is what to match.

What puts this reason on your score

A hard inquiry is added when a lender pulls your report for an application. FICO counts inquiries from the last 12 months, though they stay on the report for two years. Checking your own report or score is a soft inquiry and doesn't count.

The law gives inquiries special treatment. Under 15 U.S.C. 1681g(f)(9), if the number of inquiries hurt your score, the disclosure must say so even when four other reasons already fill the list. FICO says one more inquiry takes less than five points off for most people, and that inquiries can matter more on files with few accounts or a short history.

What to check on your credit report

• List every hard inquiry from the past 12 months on each report, with its date and company name.
• Match each one to an application you made. An inquiry you don't recognize could be fraud or a mistake.
• Group mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries made within a few weeks of each other. FICO counts those as one for scoring.

What you can do about it

• Stop applying for new credit until your big purchase is done.
• Keep rate shopping for a mortgage or car loan inside 14 days, the window older FICO versions use, so the pulls count as one.
• Dispute any inquiry you didn't authorize with the bureau that shows it.

The free inquiry tracker can help with this step.

How soon a change can show

Each inquiry stops counting 12 months after its date and leaves the report at 24 months. Mark those dates, and the code eases on its own as each one ages out.

If you are applying for a mortgage

Mortgage lenders use FICO Score 2, 4 and 5, which are older versions with the 14-day shopping window. Comparing several lenders inside two weeks keeps those mortgage pulls counted as a single inquiry.

Guides that go deeper

• How long hard inquiries stay on your report and keep countingHard inquiries can sit on your credit report for 2 years, but FICO only scores them for one. A dated example shows when each clock runs out.
• Rate shopping for a loan without wrecking your credit scoreFICO counts mortgage, auto and student loan inquiries made within 14 to 45 days as one. The three rules, a worked timeline, and what isn't covered.
• How mortgage preapproval shows up on your creditA mortgage preapproval usually means a hard pull from all three bureaus. Why one lender shows up three times, how shopping is scored, and what to avoid.
• What your credit score reason codes are telling youReason codes list what held your score back the most, in order. What the common ones mean, which you can act on, and which to leave alone.