hard credit inquiry

[ hahrd kred-it in-kwuh-ree ]

noun

, Finance.

1. a formal assessment of creditworthiness made by a lender or credit issuer with the permission of a potential borrower who has applied for a loan, line of credit, or credit card:

   Hard credit inquiries appear on a person’s credit report and can affect their credit score.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard credit inquiry¹

First recorded in 2000–05

More About Hard Credit Inquiry

What does hard credit inquiry mean in credit management?

A hard credit inquiry — also called hard credit pull — is a formal assessment of an individual’s creditworthiness made by a lender or credit issuer when the person fills out an application for a loan, a line of credit, or a credit card. This assessment is carried out with the permission of the potential borrower and can affect the person’s credit rating, as well as appear on their credit report.

A soft credit inquiry differs from a hard credit inquiry in that it typically does not appear on the borrower’s credit report, and does not affect their credit.

The term can also be shortened to hard inquiry or hard pull.

Examples of hard credit inquiry in a sentence

“A hard inquiry causes a small, short-lived dip in your credit score; it should bounce back fairly quickly.”
—”How Does A Personal Loan Affect My Credit?” Rocket Loans. Retrieved March 15, 2020.

“[A]ny time you apply for a credit account of any kind, the lender will pull your credit report, resulting in a hard inquiry.”
—”How Does A Personal Loan Affect My Credit?” Rocket Loans. Retrieved March 15, 2020.

Other terms connected with the topic of hard credit inquiry

• credit
• credit score
• credit rating
• creditworthiness
• soft credit inquiry