What a hard inquiry is
A hard inquiry is recorded when a lender pulls your credit report to review an application for credit — a car loan, a mortgage, a credit card. Hard inquiries generally stay on a report for up to two years and may be factored into scoring models for about twelve months. Checking your own report, and pre-approval or account-review pulls, are soft inquiries and are not visible to lenders.
Not every inquiry belongs on your report
The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows a report to be pulled only with a permissible purpose, and you have the right to dispute entries you believe are inaccurate or unauthorized. Common issues we look for include:
Unauthorized pulls
A lender you never applied with, or a pull you never gave permission for.
Duplicate inquiries
The same application recorded more than once by the same lender.
Identity theft
Applications submitted in your name by someone else.
Dealership shotgunning
One car application sent to many lenders, each leaving its own inquiry.
Outdated entries
Inquiries still showing after the two-year reporting window has passed.
Wrong-file mix-ups
Inquiries belonging to someone with a similar name or Social Security number.
How an inquiry dispute moves
- 1
Pull all three reports
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion list inquiries separately, so all three get reviewed.
- 2
Separate hard from soft
Only hard inquiries matter here; soft pulls aren't visible to lenders and aren't worth challenging.
- 3
Identify what you never authorized
We compare each inquiry against the applications you actually made.
- 4
File the dispute
Unauthorized entries are challenged with the bureaus and, where appropriate, the company that pulled the report.
- 5
Track the response
Bureaus generally have 30 days to investigate. Inquiries without a permissible purpose are removed.
Legitimate inquiries stay
If you applied for that credit, the inquiry is accurate and no one can lawfully have it deleted. Hard inquiries also carry far less weight than payment history or balances, so anyone selling inquiry removal as a guaranteed score jump is not being straight with you. What we do is find the entries that genuinely don't belong and pursue those properly.
What we handle for you
- Full inquiry review across all three reports
- Dispute letters drafted, filed, and tracked for you
- Follow-up on incomplete or boilerplate responses
- Bilingual updates in English or Spanish
See inquiries you don't recognize?
Book a free 30-minute consultation and we'll go through your report together — no pressure, no obligation.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Results vary by individual situation and no specific score change or outcome is promised or guaranteed.