Which Inquires really matters?

[sgs10]

I have 2 inquiries in the past 2 years, One of them is pretty old DEC 2008. The other being my recent credit card APR 2010. I want to apply for a credit  card now, Ho will the lender see these inquires( good , recent , etc.)

BTW: My utilization is less than 10% and i have no balances left in my credit cards (Available credit 6500$ & balance 0$)

Update: My fako score with credit karma was 764 and Equifax score ( 3 in 1) 707

I recently got a "pre approved tp apply " offer for Citi Platinum Mastercard

[laz98]

april 2010 is pretty recent. the other isn't counting against you but it's still visible on your reports.

[sgs10]

If i apply for citi do they see that I m applying for credit cards in short period of time???????

[laz98]

your inquiries are almost immediately visible on your reports.  so yes, if you apply for 3 cards, card #3 should be able to see the previous 2 inquiries.

[sgs10]

The previous inquiry is for my phone account

[jforsyth]

No inquiry is ever seen as "good," but the older ones usually aren't too significant.

Only inquiries within the past year affect your FICO scores. However, lenders can see all inquiries withing 2 years.

Every lender is different, but generally speaking inquiries within the past 6 months can be weighed fairly heavily. You only have 1, so it shouldn't hurt too much. What will probably hurt you more so than that inquiry is that you have new credit.

The inquiry from Dec 2008 will probably be seen as fairly insignificant.

EDIT: Citi is really strict about inquiries. I'd wait until you have no inquiries in the past 6 months to apply with them.

[haulingthescoreup]

One problem can be that many lenders do their approvals via computer. If you have a lot of inquiries, and many are for such things as apartment rentals, cell phones, auto loans (where the dealer shopped you to 6 lenders and you wound up with 6 inq), the computer might turn you down for "seeking new credit" or "too many inquiries" or whatever.

If this happens, you have to call for reconsideration and ask a human to review your report. Even the humans sometimes don't understand that you weren't trying to buy six cars, only one, so you have to be prepared to gently guide them through and show them that your actual applications for credit aren't out of hand.

[sgs10]

@ jforsyth  Thanks That was helpful

[sgs10]

I have just inquires in past 2 years and this is my second credit card, the first one is from april 2008. I haven't applied for any credit in the meanwhile

[fused]

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@sgs10 wrote:

I have just inquires in past 2 years and this is my second credit card, the first one is from april 2008. I haven't applied for any credit in the meanwhile

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Do you know your FICO scores?