Credit Scoring Myth Busters- Hard Inquiries

One of the questions we get the most from new applicants is "but if you pull my credit, won't that hurt my score?" Actually, not really.

Fair Isaac & Co. (FICO) determined that a consumer shouldn't be penalized for doing something as logical as shopping around for the best interest rates before buying a home or car. They came up with something called De-Duplication, which means you can have your credit pulled by as many mortgage lenders as you want within a specified period of time, and it will only be counted as one hard inquiry.

A hard inquiry should only impact your score by 1-10 points, but get this. A hard inquiry affects your score MORE if your score is below 620 and less if your score is over 720. Another reason to keep your credit score high!