Q: Hello I was curious how I would find out if a creditor did a soft inquiry or a hard inquiry on my credit report?

Julie Netherland

A: Hi Julie,
Typically a soft inquiry is when a creditor pulls your credit report without your permission. This type of credit pull does not affect your credit score what so ever. This usually happens with a creditor to determine whether they want to extend a credit offer to you or not.

A soft inquiry does not show up on your credit report, it only shows up on your credit report if you request a copy of that report.

A hard inquiry is a request of your credit report that shows up on your credit report. These types of inquires stay on your credit report for 24 months. These types of requests are requests for credit requested by you the consumer. For example if you are applying for a mortgage, new credit card, or installment loan.

If you are interested in knowing what your credit score is on your credit report, this is the type of credit report considered a consumer credit report. This type of request is a soft inquiry and does not hurt your credit score.

CreditScoreQuick.com