How many Hard pulls and in what amount of time is "too many"?

[Anonymous]

What is the consensus on hard pulls? How bad do they ding your score and is it an accumulative effect (ie: one HP takes off 3, does the next take off 5, and then 7, and so on?) I realize the less you have the better but how many is too many, and in what amount of time? I see many people on here posting that they go on app sprees and apply for five cards - how is this affecting their score and is this super dangerous? 

[kdm31091]

I think more than 6 per year starts to approach "too many" for many lenders. Some are more sensitive to it, some less. If you wait a couple months in between each app you should be fine. This is incredibly hard to do, but the more you apply, you tend to get lower limits and higher APRs than you'd want anyway.

App sprees are OK if you are careful. You have to research which lenders tend to pull what and base it off of that. If you already have 6 inquiries this year on transunion you may want to avoid a lender who tends to pull that, etc, but nothing is ever guaranteed and sprees can be risky. I suggest spreading out applications. You will almost never go on a spree and get lots of cards with the most favorable terms, unless you have gardened for a very long time prior.

They fall off after 2 years, but become less of a factor after six months to a year. But I'd say no more than 6 a year (per bureau) for the best rates and limit that you can get with your score.

[wacdenney]

Oddly enough at some point they stop mattering at all it seems.  I guess there simply isn't that much difference between 22 and 23.  lol

Yeah...  My EQ has 20+ HPs on it ATM.  A new one doesn't even move my score anymore.

[coldnmn]

It also depends on how thick your credit files are and average age of accounts how it affects score. It's not a one shoe fits all when it comes to credit.

[chalupaman]

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@wacdenney wrote:

Oddly enough at some point they stop mattering at all it seems.  I guess there simply isn't that much difference between 22 and 23.  lol

Yeah...  My EQ has 20+ HPs on it ATM.  A new one doesn't even move my score anymore.

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Yup. Sometimes it's more based on having a relationship with a bank too, income, all that sort of stuff. I have over 10 INQs on my EQ file and still was able to get a card with US Bank a month after getting denied for the same card I had tried. Big difference was having a checking account open at the time with 25 dollars in it.

[Anonymous]

I don't think inquiries matter that much compared to new accounts.

I've been approved for accounts with 25 inquiries.  But as soon as I have a few new accounts show up, lenders want to start seeing aging on those new accounts before granting credit.

That's why I go on sprees,  i have new accounts aging at the same time.

[Anonymous]

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@wacdenney wrote:

Oddly enough at some point they stop mattering at all it seems.  I guess there simply isn't that much difference between 22 and 23.  lol

Yeah...  My EQ has 20+ HPs on it ATM.  A new one doesn't even move my score anymore.

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Wayyy too many EQ HP.

[TRC_WA]

I had 0 EQ INQs till my spree last week.

1st INQ no change

2nd INQ score dropped from 700 to 698

New account hit report score dropped from 698 to 694

To be expected and not the end of the world.

[Anonymous]

After six months inquiries don't mean much. It's when you go on severeal app sprees in a short time that you wind up paying for it.

[Anonymous]

What one lender considers too many HPs might not be for another. The number of HPs that is too many will also vary based on your overall credit profile. A person with an established credit history and a 720 FICO score will likely get credit with the same number of HPs that a person with a thin file and a 720 FICO score would get. Similarly, other factors not considered by FICO (e.g. Income) could impact a creditors willingness to lend to you with multiple inquiries. 

As a rule of thumb for people with established credit files and excellent credit, 1 inquiry per month (3 per month across all 3 credit reports) can be considered about as high as one can go without receiving too many denials. This means you will have 12 inquiries per credit report in a year and 24 per credit report in 2 years. Some people get away with more HPs, but you will start seeing a lot of denials due to too many HPs at around this stage. Bear in mind that 12 per year (spread out) is still a lot and even if you have excellent credit (760+ scores, established files, etc) you will see some denials. Also, some issuers (like Barclays) might be more likely to deny you earlier on. 

I avoid getting more than 3 inquiries in any report in a given month or more than 3 in every 3 months (i.e. spread out or all together but not more than 3 in 3 months per report). I don't always have that many inquiries because there just are not that many cards I want. I generally only apply for cards that either have excellent consistent rewards or a major sign-up bonus. For the most part, I have the rewards cards I want and as for sign-up bonuses only so many are available at a time.

Once you have good credit for a while where you can afford to go crazy with the inquiries, you no longer need to go crazy with the inquiries because you get most of the cards you want. Unless you are silly like me and apply for 3 Chase cards within a day or so of each other and get denied on the easiest card of the lot due to 2 other approvals! Think of card accumulation and credit building as a long-term goal and don't rush it. Too many inquiries, or even too many new accounts can make it harder for you to get other accounts in the short-term. Think about what you need when applying for cards. Getting a Chase Slate is useless if you don't need the 0% APR and want rewards cards. On the other hand, getting a rewards card is less useful than the Slate if you plan to carry a balance. 

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