topic Re: Which Inquires really matters? in Credit Cards

Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:22:41 GMT

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

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

laz98 — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:58:45 GMT

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

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:00:09 GMT

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

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

laz98 — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:01:53 GMT

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.

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:03:30 GMT

The previous inquiry is for my phone account

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:05:43 GMT

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.

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:06:38 GMT

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.

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:07:46 GMT

@ jforsyth Thanks That was helpful

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:09:29 GMT

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

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

fused — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:13:41 GMT

@Anonymous 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

Do you know your FICO scores?

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:15:50 GMT

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

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

fused — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:36:14 GMT

Are all three of your reports clean, or are they a little dirty? If a little dirty, how old?

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:49:52 GMT

2 bad accounts paid and closed 4 years ago

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:31:39 GMT

The only inquiries that you should have at this time are car, home, and to open a credit union account (or bank account if you are still in the banking system). If you need a student loan, okay-- Period. NO store credit inquiries and no credit card inquiries. Period.

I know people getting turned down because of inquiries alone despite their good stats. 2-3 seems to be considered excessive.

Depending on which FICO report you pull, I am between 710-725.

Good luck!

Re: Which Inquires really matters?

elaine829 — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:45:24 GMT

When I applied for citi just a month ago I had 5 inquires on my equifax which citi pulled. 3 of them was in 8/08 and the others was earlier this year. I had one baddie from 05 which was a charge off with a 0 balance. I ended up with a 1000 credit limit and a 19% interest rate. Neither is good. But now I have a prime card and if I pay off my balances I don't have to worry about the interest rate.