What Is A Hard Pull On My Credit? A hard inquiry or hard pull is an official request for your credit reports for the purposes of evaluating your creditworthiness as a borrower. Pre-qualification for a mortgage usually doesn’t require a hard pull, but pre-approval does. Does a Hard Pull Hurt My Credit? As mentioned, the credit bureaus keep track of how times your credit has been pulled recently. Because several hard pulls are seen as an indicator of a risky borrower, hard pulls tend to lower your FICO score. This has led to the popular perception that “pulling your credit hurts your credit.” Is this true? Yes … but it’s not a big deal. First of all, a hard pull usually only decreases your FICO score a few points. Rarely does that make a big difference. Second, the damage to your credit is temporary. Delinquent payments stay on your credit for as long as seven years; derogatory marks as long as ten years. But a hard inquiry only affects your credit score for one year, and after two years it disappears from your credit like it never happened. Finally, you can’t get pre-approved without a hard credit pull, so don’t worry about it. If the pre- approval letter will help you get your dream home, isn’t it worth the temporary loss of a few measly credit points? If I Get Pre-Approved, Will I Get Two Hard Pulls on My Credit? The short answer is “yes.” Pre-approval requires a hard credit pull, and so does final approval for your loan. But don’t worry about that. Mortgage approval is a big process — much bigger than a single number. The few FICO points you lose from the pre-approval is almost never make-or-break in terms of final loan approval or loan terms.
RITA REALTOR | BROKERAGE 904-555-5555 | Rita@realtor.com | www.Authorify.com
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