By definition, a sott pull is one that is viewable only by the consumer whose report is at issue, while a hard pull is available to others.
Additionally, by definition, credit reports you receive from annualcreditreport.com are aavailable only to the consumr who is requesting the report.
That site was created with approval of the FTC as the approved primary method for the big-3 CRAs to meet their free annual disclosure requirement under the FCRA in a simple and economical manner.
If an inquiry shows in a report obtained from annualcreditreport.com, but not in a report obtained by someone else, it is a soft pull.
The other method is to get the code for the inquiry, and then use the related definitions that explain whether or not they are included in your scoring.
Reports you obtain from annualcreditreport.com provide the coding of the inquiry.
Pulls by the consumer, pulls by an existing creditor solely for internal account reviews, promotional inquires, etc., are all recogni\ed as not showing on reports availalble to others, and are thus soft.
The only type of inquiry specifically mandated under the FCRA as not being available to others are the so-called promotional inquiries made by creditors wtih whom you have not initiated a request for credit, but are nonehtless permitted to obtain listings of consumers from a CRA to which they will make a firm but unsollicted offer for credit.
