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What is a credit inquiry?

A credit inquiry is an item on a credit report that shows a business with a "permissible purpose" (as defined under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act) has previously requested a copy of the report.

Your FICO score is not affected when you check your credit.

Checking your credit reports regularly to be sure they are accurate and error-free is a good idea. In fact, maintaining accurate credit reports is a part of good credit management, which can help to improve your FICO scores over time.

You can order more than one of your credit reports with FICOscores right here at myFICO.com. Checking your score at myFICO does not count as an inquiry and will not hurt your FICO score.

Inquiries may or may not affect your FICO score.

A FICO score takes into account only voluntary inquiries that result from your application for credit. The information about inquiries that can be factored into your FICO score includes:

• Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account.
• Number of recent credit inquiries.
• Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account.
• Time since credit inquiry(ies).

A FICO score does not take into account any involuntary inquiries made by businesses with whom you did not apply for credit, inquiries from employers, or your own requests to see your credit report.

For many people, one additional credit inquiry (voluntary and initiated by an application for credit) may not affect their FICO score at all. For others, one additional inquiry would take less than 5 points off their FICO score.

Inquiries can have a greater impact, however, if you have few accounts or a short credit history. Large numbers of inquiries also mean greater risk: People with six inquiries or more on their credit reports are eight times more likely to declare bankruptcy than people with no inquiries on their reports.

If you need a loan, do your rate shopping within a focused period of time, such as 30 days. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, in part by the length of time over which inquiries occur.

Generally, people with high FICO scores consistently:

• Pay bills on time.
• Keep balances low on credit cards and other revolving credit products.
• Apply for and open new credit accounts only as needed.
• Also, here are some good credit management practices that can help to raise your FICO score over time.
• Re-establish your credit history if you have had problems. Opening new accounts responsibly and paying them on time will raise your FICO score over the long term.
• Check your own credit reports regularly, and before applying for new credit, to be sure they are accurate and up-to-date. As long as you order your credit reports through an organization authorized to provide credit reports to consumers, such as myFICO, your own inquiries will not affect your FICO score.