How Many Times Can You Check Your Credit Before a Report Is Adversely Affected?

Certain credit checks are among the many things that adversely affect your credit report. A large number of inquiries can damage your credit score as much as late payments or maxed-out credit lines. Some inquiries do not affect your credit rating at all, however, and your credit score is not significantly affected unless you generate an excessive number of credit checks by submitting many applications for credit.

Soft Inquiries

Checking your own credit generates a "soft" inquiry on your credit report, which is not seen by current and potential creditors and does not affect your credit score. You may review your own Equifax, TransUnion and Experian reports as many times as you wish without any negative effects. You can receive one free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each bureau through AnnualCreditReport.com, as mandated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. You can purchase additional copies of your credit report directly from the bureaus or through third-parties or credit monitoring services. You also get free credit reports if you suspect fraud and alert the bureaus. All of these count as harmless soft entries.

Hard Inquiries

You generate a "hard" credit check every time you fill out and submit a loan application and the lender pulls one or more of your credit reports. Each of these inquiries brings your credit score down slightly, with the exact effect depending on the number of credit checks and other factors. Your first credit check might not hurt you at all if you have a strong credit rating, or it might only your drop score by less than five points, according to MyFICO. Additional checks have a cumulative effect, especially if you have six or more within a short time, which marks you as a high bankruptcy risk.

Consolidated Inquiries

Consolidated credit checks for a certain type of loan, all made within 30 days, do not have the same adverse effect as numerous unrelated inquiries. Credit scoring formulas take rate shopping into consideration. If you fill out several applications for the same account type, such as a student loan, mortgage or car financing, MyFICO explains that all those inquiries are viewed as a single credit check, so your score drops five points at most.

Unrecognized Inquiries

Hard credit checks sometimes show up in error on your Equifax, TransUnion and Experian credit reports. You can search for incorrect inquiries regularly by getting your free credit reports as soon as you are eligible for them each year. Immediately send a dispute letter to any unrecognized companies listed as making a credit inquiry on your reports, the Illinois Attorney General's website advises. Ask for erasure of the questionable inquiry if the company cannot send you written proof that you authorized it to check your credit. Removal negates its adverse effect on your credit score.