Does it Lower Your Credit Score Whenever You Get a Credit Check Done?

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle states that to observe a system is to disrupt it. Such is the case with certain kinds of credit checks -- checks made by an outside party of a person's credit report and score. In some cases, the credit checks can result in a person being knocked down a few points. However, other kinds of credit checks will have no impact on the person's score at all.

Credit Inquiries

Any party with a legitimate business interest in knowing the contents of a person's credit report can request a copy of it. Each time a report is checked, this is noted on a person's credit report, too, alongside the main entries regarding the person's credit history. Yet, only some of these inquiries, known as "hard" inquiries, will cause the person's score to go down.

Checks by Creditors

A check by a creditor to whom an individual has applied for credit is known as a "hard" inquiry. After an individual has applied for credit with a lender, the lender will typically check his previous credit history. This will cause a person's score to drop a few points because the credit reporting bureaus that maintain the credit report take this as an indication that person is looking to take on more debt, increasing his likelihood of default.

Checks by Others

Credit checks by everyone else are known as "soft" checks and will not cause a person's score to drop. These include checks by landlords determining whether to rent a tenant a property; employers weighing whether to hire a person for a job; and credit card companies trolling for new clients. These checks, while listed on the report, do not suggest a person is looking to take on new debt and do not count against his score.

Multiple Checks by Creditors

A person may worry if he is applying for a loan that checks by each of the lenders to whom he applies may cumulatively send his score plummeting. Luckily, it is the policy of credit reporting bureaus to count a number of similar inquiries -- say, inquiries by home loan lenders -- received in a short period of time as only a single check, with only a modest drop in the person's score.