A word of caution regarding inquiries

[Anonymous]

I imagine that more than one of us have been tempted to fill out one of those poor credit auto loan applications that send out your info to the local dealers. Well, I was one of the people that was tempted. The good news, I got an e-mail from one of the local dealers that shows I do qualify (good news in the fact that I've been able to raise my score high enough). The bad news, I just got a score alert that my score has dropped. When I went out to look, it's dropped 40 points! I pulled up my report and I have 3 hard pulls from different companies resulting from that application. I assumed it would be one pull and that info was distributed, but that's not how it happens apparently. I'm just hoping that I won't have more. My EQ dropped down lower than it was before I started knocking off the baddies. YIKES

[Lel]

For the EQ score that you get here, if the three pulls occurred within 45 day window, they will only be scored as a single inquiry.  So even if your auto finance application resulted in a dozen inquiries (which has been reported by some users), it won't have any more impact than one inquiry.  The inqs would have to be properly coded as auto loan pulls, though.

Having said that, 40 points seems like too much for a single inquiry.  Were there any other changes to your credit report (regardless of how minor they might be)?

[Anonymous]

Nope. That was the only change. I wasn't surprised when I got the e-mail saying that my score changed, but I was shocked by the points. I immediately pulled my report and it was the only change - the numerous pulls. TU's score doesn't show that it changed today, but we'll see tomorrow if there is a difference. It seemed like an awful lot to me too. Really makes it hard to feel good about any previous work.

[Jazzzy]

Also, keep in mind that just because FICO should count them as one inquiry for scoring purposes, when you apply for other credit, those creditors may count them against you one-by-one. Hopefully they'll pick up on the fact that they were all for one car loan, but sometimes you have to explain them.

[Junejer]

Hey, Montanaman, do yourself a favor and go over those reports with a fine-tooth comb. Put your old report and new report side by side and highlight any changes, regardless of how subtle. Oftentimes, it's the subtle changes that make a difference on our reports.

[smallfry]

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@LynetteM wrote:
Also, keep in mind that just because FICO should count them as one inquiry for scoring purposes, when you apply for other credit, those creditors may count them against you one-by-one. Hopefully they'll pick up on the fact that they were all for one car loan, but sometimes you have to explain them.

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You make a point lost on many.

[smallfry]

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@Junejer wrote:
Hey, Montanaman, do yourself a favor and go over those reports with a fine-tooth comb. Put your old report and new report side by side and highlight any changes, regardless of how subtle. Oftentimes, it's the subtle changes that make a difference on our reports.

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Good advice. Don't assume there hasn't been a change. In checking over my new EX report I find that a car loan which was supposed to drop off in 2012 now has a drop off date of 2019. Check every line.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the comments. One thing that I've definately been doing is watching with a fine tooth comb. In fact, yesterday's alert specifically stated it dropped from applying for new credit. I got another alert today saying that it dropped another 10 points from more inquiries. The low number of tradelines makes it pretty easy to monitor on my end. Strange - my TU has the same number of inquiries and has not changed at all...yet.

[AndySoCal]

I would pull your name off that auto loan site for one to stop the inquires. When your credit dropped 40 points where the inquires same day or different day?

[Anonymous]

great idea AndySoCal. They were all on the same day. It doesn't make any sense to me since, as mentioned earlier, the auto loans "should" be considered one inquiry. I wonder if maybe they aren't being coded as auto.