Understanding FICO® Scoring

[KDM]

I haven't applied for a credit card since last july.  Are two inquiries this year too much?

[Tuscani]

No.. and only INQs in the last 12 months go against your score. The previous 6 months hold the most weight.

[inzaghi]

Its states on my score watch alert that
"New inquiries on a credit report may lower the FICO score by a modest amount. Multiple inquiries can lower the score a little more than a single inquiry. But note that multiple inquiries within a two-week period are treated as a single inquiry."

So If I am shopping for new credit cards should I do it within the 2 week period and
is this true for all the 3 CRAs

[Tuscani]

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inzaghi wrote:
Its states on my score watch alert that
"New inquiries on a credit report may lower the FICO score by a modest amount. Multiple inquiries can lower the score a little more than a single inquiry. But note that multiple inquiries within a two-week period are treated as a single inquiry."

So If I am shopping for new credit cards should I do it within the 2 week period and
is this true for all the 3 CRAs

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The two week rule only applies to auto and home inqs.. NOT CCs!

And to correct my previous statement.. 12 month old inqs hold the same weight as 6 months old inqs.

[ilovepizza]

I have over 12 inquiries with in 6 months and started to get turned down by most. I'd say 12 is too much. When I had less than 6 I didn't have any problems.

[fused]

I have over 113 inquiries with scores in high 700's...Just kidding!!

[MidnightVoice]

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ilovepizza wrote:
I have over 12 inquiries with in 6 months and started to get turned down by most. I'd say 12 is too much. When I had less than 6 I didn't have any problems.

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They seem to think more than two in 12 months is too many, even if one is for a cell phone 

[dannigirl]

Here's something I learned and will be careful of next time. My husband and I just recently bought a new car. I did not know that the finance manager had ran credit checks with alot of banks just to get a great interest rate. A month later I went to apply for a CC to roll my other two credit cards into one to make payments easier. I was turned dow because there were too many inquires on my credit report. We got a good interest rate, but be careful when you go to by a new car. I had my credit report on private so I could stop getting all those stupid credit card offers in the mail. I think banks should pay a fee to run a credit check.

[Tuscani]

 Many consumers get confused on auto and home inqs.. Most are under the impression that endlessly shopping around for 14 days won't hurt you..NOT TRUE.  While FICO only calculates these Inqs as one.. EACH Inq still shows up and increases your overall Inq count. Thus, hurting you in a manual review or an automated approval system that checks Inq count.

[tomtastic25]

From what I know a inquirey is only like 2 points so you would need quite a few. Six a year is viewed as average. Ten or more excessive.