Hard vs Soft Credit Check: What the Difference Is and When Each One Applies

Last updated October 7, 2026 · 1,224 words · Credit Checks

A hard credit check happens when a lender or creditor reviews your credit report as part of an application, and it is recorded as an inquiry that other lenders can see. A soft credit check happens for background reviews, prescreened offers, or your own requests, and it is not shared with other lenders.

This guide is general educational information for U.S. readers. It is not financial advice and does not describe your individual credit file. Figures such as score ranges and timeline estimates are typical examples, not promises.

Key takeaways

A hard inquiry is recorded when a lender or creditor pulls your credit report to make a decision on an application.
A soft inquiry is recorded for prescreened offers, account reviews, background screening, and consumer-initiated reviews, and it is not shared with other lenders.
Hard inquiries typically remain on a credit report for 2 years.
Inquiries fall under the new credit category, which is about 10% of the FICO scoring breakdown, while payment history is about 35% and amounts owed about 30%.
FICO and VantageScore both use a score range of 300 to 850, but VantageScore does not publish fixed factor percentages.
The FCRA gives consumers the right to a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months, and the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com.

A hard credit check happens when a lender, landlord, or other business reviews your credit report to decide on an application. A soft credit check happens for background reviews, prescreened offers, and requests you make yourself. The two differ in who can see the inquiry, how long it stays in your file, and whether scoring models take it into account.

What counts as a hard credit check

A hard credit check, also called a hard inquiry or hard pull, is a review of your credit report tied to a specific application. The business requests the file from one or more of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — and the request is recorded on the version of the report that other lenders receive.

Applications that commonly produce a hard inquiry include:

A credit card application
A mortgage, refinance, or home equity application
An auto loan or lease application
A personal or student loan application
Some rental screenings, utility deposits, or insurance underwriting where state law permits credit history to be used

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes credit reports as the record companies use to evaluate applications, and inquiries created by those applications are part of that record.

What counts as a soft credit check

A soft credit check, also called a soft inquiry or soft pull, is a review that is not tied to an application decision. Soft inquiries are not shown to lenders who request your report, and scoring models do not use them when a score is calculated.

Examples include:

Reviewing your own credit report or credit score
Prescreened credit and insurance offers, where an agency provides a list of consumers who meet criteria set by the requester
Employment or tenant background screening, where the report goes to the employer or screening company rather than to a lender
Periodic account reviews by a creditor that already holds your account
Identity and relationship verification by a financial institution you already use

Credit education material published by Experian notes that employer-requested checks are handled separately from application-based checks and are not provided to lenders.

Hard vs soft credit check at a glance

Feature	Hard credit check	Soft credit check
Typical trigger	An application for credit, a loan, a lease, or another product underwritten with credit history	Self-review, prescreened offers, account monitoring, employment or background screening
Permission	Your authorization, generally given as part of the application	Permitted under the FCRA for listed purposes, including reviews of existing accounts
Who sees it	Other lenders who request your report	You, in your own disclosure; not other lenders
Considered in scoring	Included in the new credit portion of the calculation	Not included in the calculation
Time in the file	Typically 2 years, then it ages off	Shown in consumer disclosures; not part of the lender-facing file

Where inquiries sit in a credit score calculation

Most credit scores, including FICO and VantageScore, use a range of 300 to 850. The two model families weigh categories differently. FICO score factors and their approximate weights are: payment history 35%, amounts owed 30%, length of credit history 15%, new credit 10%, and credit mix 10%. VantageScore uses its own factor weighting and does not publish fixed percentages.

Inquiries fall under new credit, the smallest single category in the FICO breakdown at 10%. That category also includes recently opened accounts and the time since the most recent account opening. See how credit scores are calculated and FICO vs VantageScore for the full breakdown, and credit score basics for how the 300 to 850 range is organized.

Scoring models generally treat several inquiries from a short shopping period for the same type of loan as a single inquiry, so a cluster of mortgage or auto checks made close together is handled differently from a series of unrelated applications, according to Experian.

How long inquiries and other items stay in a credit file

Retention periods differ by item type and are set by the FCRA and agency policy:

Hard inquiries: typically 2 years
Most negative information, including late payments: 7 years
Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 7 years
Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 10 years
Initial fraud alert: 1 year; extended fraud alert: 7 years

The statutory text is published at 15 U.S.C. section 1681. The FCRA was enacted in 1970 and amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in 2003.

Soft checks, your own file, and disputes

Reviewing your own credit is a soft inquiry. Under the FCRA, consumers have the right to a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months, and the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com. The credit reports section covers what each part of a file contains and how to read it.

When an item is disputed, a credit reporting agency generally must investigate within 30 days; the period can extend to 45 days if the consumer provides additional information during the initial 30-day window. FCRA section 605A (15 U.S.C. section 1681c-1) covers fraud alerts, and section 605B (15 U.S.C. section 1681c-2) covers blocking of information that resulted from identity theft.

A security freeze is free to place, temporarily lift, or remove under federal law; the credit freeze page explains how a freeze differs from a lock and how each one affects who can pull a file. If identity theft is involved, a report can be filed at IdentityTheft.gov and with the IRS using Form 14039; see identity theft.

Situations where the distinction matters

Apartment hunting

Many landlords run screening that includes a credit report. Some use a full file that generates a hard inquiry; others use a service that returns a summary without one. The screening consent form usually states which type is used.

Preapproved offers

Prescreened offers of credit and insurance are based on soft inquiries. Responding to an offer begins a new application, and that application typically generates a hard inquiry.

Auto and mortgage shopping

Because scoring models group same-type inquiries from a short window, multiple dealership or broker checks during a narrow shopping period are treated as a single inquiry rather than one per dealer.

Reviews of accounts you already hold

An issuer reviewing an existing account — for a periodic account check or a credit line review — uses a soft inquiry. A request you initiate for a higher credit line, or an upgrade to a different card product, is often processed as an application and can generate a hard inquiry. Issuer terms state which process applies to which request.

Employment and background screening

Employer screening is conducted with written consent under the FCRA but is not reported to lenders, so it does not appear in the file a lender receives.

What the record shows over time

Inquiry records age out of the calculation sooner than most other items, and new credit is the smallest single category in the FICO breakdown at 10%. Longer-term categories carry larger weights: payment history at 35% and amounts owed at 30%. The payment history guide and credit utilization guide describe how those categories are measured, and the credit score ranges page explains how the 300 to 850 scale is divided. Monitoring services, described in the credit monitoring section and in the credit check overview, track new inquiries as they are added to a file.

This page is published for education only and is not financial advice.

Compare three-bureau credit scores and reports from a single place. Educational links, disclosed below.

Three Bureau Credit Scores and Reports

CreditMonitored.com may earn a commission from partner links at no additional cost to you.

Frequently asked questions

Is a soft credit check visible to lenders?

No. Soft inquiries are not included in the version of the credit report that lenders receive. They appear in the disclosure you get when you request your own file, and scoring models do not use them when a score is calculated.

How long does a hard credit check stay on a credit report?

Hard inquiries typically remain on a credit report for 2 years, a shorter retention period than most other items. Late payments and most other negative information stay for 7 years, and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays for 10 years.

Can I look at my own credit without creating a hard inquiry?

Yes. Requests you make yourself are soft inquiries. The FCRA gives consumers the right to a free credit report from each nationwide agency every 12 months, and the three agencies currently provide free reports weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com.

Do several hard inquiries from rate shopping count as separate checks?

Scoring models generally group inquiries of the same type that occur within a short shopping window, so a set of auto or mortgage checks made close together is treated as one inquiry rather than several, according to Experian's published credit education material.

What separates a hard check from a soft check?

A hard check follows an application you submit — for a card, loan, lease, or similar product. A soft check follows a review that is not tied to an application decision, such as a prescreened offer, a periodic review by an existing creditor, or your own request for your file.

Does a soft credit check affect a credit score?

No. Soft inquiries are not used by FICO or VantageScore when a score is calculated. Hard inquiries are included in the new credit category, which is about 10% of the FICO breakdown.