Inquiries Question

Anonymous · ‎01-16-2010

Between January and March of last year I made inquiries of mortgage companies trying to get a refinance. The rates were not what I wanted and I never actually made application. I was told these were "soft" inquiries. They all end up on my hard inquiry list and is scored "bad" in FICO scoring. In all there are 7 inquiries

One of them ended in my receiving a new mortgage loan for an investment property I purchased. (5 mortgage loan inqiries)

One was a Discover card inquiry. (1 inquiry)

One Wachovia for a school loan (1 inquiry)

How do I get these removed when I was told they would be "soft" inquiries. Also, I thought in FICO scoring if the same type inquiry (mortgage loans) were made during the same period of time they would not be counted in configuring the total score.

I want to increase my score in this one area. How do I do that without waiting 2 years?

EQ 1/2010, 699

EX 12/09, 723

TRANS 11/09, 710

750Lady

Lel · ‎01-16-2010

There's no way that the mortgage lenders could have quoted you rates without doing an inquiry, and they always pull hard. These are thus legitimate inquiries, but you were apparently misinformed. I find it odd that every lender you spoke to gave you the same incorrect information.

For the newer versions of FICO, which includes the EQ score from here (Beacon 5.0) and TU 04 (which is not available on this site), mortgage inquiries within a 45 day window are scored as a single inquiry. For TU 98 (the version sold here) and the most commonly used EX version (not readily available anywhere), the window is 14 days.

Did you apply for a Discover card, or request a credit limit increase? If so, then that is a legitimate hard inquiry.

The inquiry for your school loan is also a legitimate hard inquiry.

You may not be able to get these inquiries removed, since they were all done for reasons initiated by you (with the assumptions above, that is). In addition, it may not be worth your effort. Even though hard pulls remain on your credit report for 2 years, they are only factored into scoring for 1 year. So within a couple months, these inquiries are not going to have any effect on your credit score.

llecs · ‎01-16-2010

Any inquiry made in the attempt to get credit will be a hard inquiry. They are almost never soft inquiries.

You don't have to wait two years. FICO only scores inquiries for the first year, even though they report for 2 years. So, if these were between January and MArch of last year, then by March of this year, none of those 7 inquiries will be impacting your FICO score.

You are right on the mortgage inquiries. Depending on the CRA and version of score used, they are lumped together as one single inquiry. Even though your report showed 5 mortgage inquiries, you are only dinged for one of those if the 5 inquiries were within a certain period (15-30 days or so).

Remember, the "Amount of New Credit" that shows "Bad" now, also includes any opened credit. Inquiries have a very minor role in that section with any opened credit impacting your score the most.

ETA.....Once again cursed with slow typers' syndrome.

Message Edited by llecs on 01-16-2010 11:52 PM

MarineVietVet · ‎01-16-2010

llecs wrote:
ETA.....Once again cursed with slow typers' syndrome.

Message Edited by llecs on 01-16-2010 11:52 PM

Don't feel so bad. What my fingers do at a keyboard cannot in any shape, form, or fashion be considered typing.

Anonymous · ‎01-17-2010

Thanks for the information concerning the mortgage inquiries. I did not know the exact number of days were in the window. The year is almost up and I look to see if my scores improve by a few points. The Discover hard inquiry I believe was because I used the balance transfer option. I transferred a balance from a high interest rate card which was less than the 1/2 the total credit limit of the Discover card. I pay the account in full before the transfer interest rate expires. I will do that one more time with Discover with a transfer rate of 0% until May from a card with a 14% rate. Even though these inquiries will have no impact on my scores, will they stop being reported and counted as inquires? I will work on reducing the AM and BoA balances. 750Lady

MarineVietVet · ‎01-17-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the information concerning the mortgage inquiries. I did not know the exact number of days were in the window. The year is almost up and I look to see if my scores improve by a few points. The Discover hard inquiry I believe was because I used the balance transfer option. I transferred a balance from a high interest rate card which was less than the 1/2 the total credit limit of the Discover card. I pay the account in full before the transfer interest rate expires. I will do that one more time with Discover with a transfer rate of 0% until May from a card with a 14% rate. Even though these inquiries will have no impact on my scores, will they stop being reported and counted as inquires? I will work on reducing the AM and BoA balances. 750Lady

They will still show for the two full years but have no impact after one year.

bigtim · ‎01-17-2010

Even though inquiries aren't factored in FICO scoring after 1 year, they still may be considered a negative factor if you apply for credit.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Recent Cards:
12/2012 - Discover (ICL 3,375 CLI to 5,375 05/2014)
12/2013 - Chase Freedom (ICL 3,500 ACLI to 4,500 07/2014)
03/2012 - Gander Mountain MC (WFNNB) 7,000 CL
04/2012 - Ace Rewards Visa (US Bank) 12,000 CL
Back to gardening for a year or two

MarineVietVet · ‎01-18-2010

@bigtim wrote:
Even though inquiries aren't factored in FICO scoring after 1 year, they still may be considered a negative factor if you apply for credit.

I'm sometimes (often) slow to understand. How can inquiries not be factored in scoring after a year but still be considered a negative factor? How can they be looked at in two opposite ways?

I'm just asking.

Anonymous · ‎01-18-2010

@MarineVietVet wrote:
@bigtim wrote:
Even though inquiries aren't factored in FICO scoring after 1 year, they still may be considered a negative factor if you apply for credit.
I'm sometimes (often) slow to understand. How can inquiries not be factored in scoring after a year but still be considered a negative factor? How can they be looked at in two opposite ways?

I'm just asking.

Perhaps on a manual read? Maybe?

Jazzzy · ‎01-18-2010

@Anonymous wrote:
@MarineVietVet wrote:
@bigtim wrote:
Even though inquiries aren't factored in FICO scoring after 1 year, they still may be considered a negative factor if you apply for credit.
I'm sometimes (often) slow to understand. How can inquiries not be factored in scoring after a year but still be considered a negative factor? How can they be looked at in two opposite ways?

I'm just asking.
Perhaps on a manual read? Maybe?

Yes...it can be a manual read...or, it can be computerized. The 1-year rule on inquiries speaks to FICO scoring only. That doesn't mean creditors don't count how many times you've sought credit in the past two years (as opposed to just one year). Creditors can count inquiries any way they please.

Also, this same scenario can apply to mortgage and auto inquiries. Just because FICO counts them as one if they are done within a certain timeframe, that doesn't mean your future creditors will do likewise.

I think it's prudent to watch how many inquiries are on your reports for the full two years.