Is it true that if you check your credit more than once or twice a year, it reflects badly on your credit? You would think places like free credit report . Com would have to tell you if it was true, but I have read it a few times. I would like to monitor my credit more closely, but I am afraid to check it if it will hurt my credit score or something.

That is why I never check those sites anymore. My bookkeeping teacher and a few others told me that too.

If you inquire for a copy of your credit report, it will not effect your score.

There are also some inquiries by places like insurance companies, and certain retail requests that won't cost you any points as well.

Anyone checking your credit, with the purpose of making a decision regarding the extension of credit is what will cost some points, but. Unless you are going nuts with applications, it would not have a huge effect on the score.

Agree, it will not hurt your scores, those inquiries result of you pulling your own credt files are know as soft inquiries, they only show to you and nobody else.
There is some curius side effects if you pull you credit too often

In transunion if you pull you file every day after 60 or 70 pulls your hard inquiries, the ones that are result of your aplications for credit and hurt your score, the start to get deleted one by one, this means a increse of up to 20 or even 30 points once all of them are gone.

In Experian it has no effect at all

In Equifax when you pull daily two different things migt happened
- The same as transunion
Or
- You end up with a splitted file, two different credit files and never know wich one your creditors are going to see. When this happened you have to write a letter asking them to merge your files, it takes like 20 or 30 days to get it fix.

Carl.-