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qwertyman · May 31, 2006, 02:12 PM

Someone might have asked this question, but there are so many posts that I couldn't go through them all.

My question is: How many points does one's credit score go down, after, let's say a bank or a car dealer check the credit to see if you qualify? :confused:

Thanks in advance.

RickJ · May 31, 2006, 03:26 PM

None. One inquiry does not necessarily result in a reduction of the score.

That having been said, here's the "catch". Numerous inquiries are harmful, but one is not. Unfortunately there's not a human on the planet that can answer this with certainty because the "formula" for scores takes every little bit of info into consideration for every little bit of possible/potential activity.

Did I shed some light on it or make matters worse? :o

DrJ · May 31, 2006, 04:52 PM

rickj is right on.

Even if someone were to say, "I had this many inquiries and my score went down this much," you couldn't assume that the same thing would apply to you.

There are too many variables and it would depend on how much weight was applied to that.

For example, say I have 100 accounts on my credit report that are all paid off and in good standings. I get 10 inquiries on my report within a month and my score drops 10 points (by the way, these are all made up numbers so don't assume that it will drop 10 poijnts). Anyway...

On the other hand, say that you only have 1 account on your credit report that is paid off and in good standing. You get 10 inquiries within a month and it may drop 50 points.

Why?

Because I have so much good foundation that my score is leaning on.

At any rate, inquiries are okay... just don't get a lot of them in a short period.

**Bonus hint: Inquiries can be disputed and removed from your credit report, too! ;)

qwertyman · May 31, 2006, 11:30 PM

Thanks, now it makes more sense...

Dr D · Jun 1, 2006, 08:25 AM

Just to add another sidenote to the inquiry question. A few years ago I sat through a two hour phone seminar on FICO scoring. According to them, if you are shopping for a car, or a mortgage, and ten lenders check your credit in a relatively short time (how short is short?? ), the computer has been programed to treat each group of inquiries as just one.