This blog post was published by Chis O’Shea from SavvyMoney Hub.

How hard inquiries impact your credit score

When you apply for a mortgage, a personal loan, a credit card, or an auto loan, the lender checks your credit report to determine your creditworthiness. When that happens, it’s called an “inquiry.” And there is such a thing as too many inquiries. Here’s what you need to know.

Hard Inquiry vs. Soft Inquiry

There is a difference between hard inquiries and soft inquiries. The former hurts your credit score, the latter does not.

• Hard inquiry is when a lender reviews your credit report — think mortgage, credit card, and loan applications.
• Soft inquiry is when a company or person checks your credit score as part of something that isn’t linked to credit, like a background check or a credit card company pre-approving you for a card.

How Inquiries Work

Multiple hard inquiries over a period of time can lower your credit score and hurt your chances of getting approved for credit. Credit inquiries can stay on your credit report for up to two years. It’s ultimately up to the lender to decide how many inquiries are too many. And how much your score is impacted depends on your unique credit report. Typically, the better your credit score overall, the less impact hard inquiries will have. Credit Sense, our credit reporting tool, shows all hard inquiries reported in the last two years and will send a notification to the individual when inquires appear and drop off of their credit report.

About First Community Bank and Trust
First Community Bank and Trust is a privately-owned bank. Established in 1916 First Community Bank and Trust has been serving Beecher, IL, Peotone, IL and the surrounding communities for over 108 years. Our commitment to providing the best banking products and services is matched only by our outstanding customer service. We offer traditional community banking services, including mortgage, consumer, and commercial lending, as well as state of the art electronic banking services.

Press Contact:
Steve Koehn, Senior Vice President
First Community Bank and Trust
(708) 946-2246

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