A Hard Credit Inquiry (or "hard pull") occurs when a prospective lender pulls your official credit report from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion to evaluate an application for credit (such as a mortgage, auto loan, credit card, or personal loan).
Key characteristics: - Score Impact: A single hard inquiry typically lowers your FICO score by under 5 points. - Credit Report Retention: Remains visible on credit reports for 24 months, but FICO scoring algorithms only calculate inquiries from the preceding 12 months. - Rate-Shopping De-Duplication Window: FICO algorithms recognize mortgage and auto loan rate shopping. All hard inquiries for the same loan category within a 14 to 45-day window count as only ONE single inquiry to allow consumers to shop for the best interest rates without penalty.