Is It Possible to Remove Inquiries From My Credit Report?

Hard inquiries have such a small impact on your credit score that you might not even notice. More than six inquiries in a year makes you a high risk, even with no other negatives on your credit report, according to the Fair Isaac Corporation. Thus you should check your report for unauthorized inquiries and dispute them with the credit bureaus.

Identification

It is possible to remove inquiries from a credit report, but only if you never gave the creditor consent to run your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act demands the credit reporting bureaus remove any falsely reported negative items, such as a credit inquiry. Dispute the inquiry through the agency's online dispute form or send a letter.

Considerations

While the credit bureaus can remove an unauthorized inquiry, Bargaineering suggests asking the creditor to remove it, because this usually gives faster results. In any letter to a creditor, include the details of the inquiry on the report, such as the date and name of the creditor and mention that the Fair Credit Reporting Act considers an unauthorized inquiry a violation. Ask the creditor to furnish any documents that gave him the right to pull your report, such as a release form you signed.

Reporting Time Limit

Inquiries naturally fall off your credit report two years after the posting date. However, they only affect your credit one year after the creditor requests a report. Also, creditors usually focus on credit inquiries within the last six months, according to Carreon and Associates. Too many very recent inquiries could scare a lender into thinking you might be desperate for credit, because you expect a financial catastrophe. (ref 1 and 4)

Tip

Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score, but they pose a threat to your score, because creditors use soft checks to "pre-approve" credit cards in the mail. Would-be thieves can intercept these, run up the limit and stick you with the bill. You can stop many soft checks by opting out of pre-screened offers via OptOutPrescreen.com. Other soft inquiries are usually due to account reviews and stay on your report for two years.

Tip

In the future ask lenders if they perform a hard inquiry before consenting to a credit check. If possible, try to limit inquiries to no more than one or two a year to keep them from becoming a problem.