Credit Inquiries

When it comes to your credit, few people understand the role that credit inquiries can play. Sometimes, removing credit inquiries can mean the difference between a not so good credit score and a great one.

Whether it is DirecTV credit inquiry complaints, home mortgage credit inquiries, new car credit inquiries, or any other allowed credit inquiry, they can all have an affect on your credit. Any time you shop for an item that requires you to apply for credit, and then the subsequent pulling of your credit report can take your score down a few points.

Most credit inquiries will take five points or less off your score each time, but this can add up. Mortgage credit inquiries, credit card inquiries, and inquiries when buying a new call can add up over time. If you have done all this, all is not lost, since you can remove inquiries from your credit report.

One thing that can keep you from needing to remove credit inquiries is to watch how you are making them. Say for instance, you are shopping for a car. If you stop at three different dealerships over the course of the week, your score will drop five points or less – not 15 – since it is all considered the same. However, shop for a home mortgage at the same time, and it is considered a separate inquiry – meaning that your score could drop as much as 10 points.

Keep in mind that you can make one personal credit inquiry annually without a fee or loss of points. Take advantage of this, since knowing your credit score ahead of time will give you a better idea of whether or not you will get approved for the loan. It will also alert you if there are any fraudulent charges or inquiries that you need to remove from your credit report.

Inquiries on your credit will stay on there up to two years. After that time, you can send a letter to remove inquiries from credit to the major credit bureaus to have them remove inquiries from your credit. This should be done immediately if you feel that there is an error in your report, since errors can also affect your final credit score. This can help improve your overall credit score. Doing things like paying your bills fully and on time, keeping credit balances down, and keeping the inquiries to the minimum will also help to keep your score higher.