Credit Card Inquiries
While credit scoring models will cut you some slack when you’re comparison
shopping for an auto or home loan, they are not so approving of multiple inquiries
from credit card issuers.
One reason: You may have opened one or more credit card accounts within
the last month or so, and they wouldn’t appear on your credit report
just yet.
And, not to say that you would do so, but some people open a lot of credit
card accounts at one time when they’re planning to run up a whole lot
of debt—and not pay it back.
On this count, the credit bureau Experian echoes Fair, Isaac’s conclusions:
The more inquiries that appear on a borrower’s credit file, the
more likely a borrower may not be able to pay his or her bills as agreed.
Lenders are vague about how many inquiries in what period of time scare them
away. But the consensus is that lenders look at credit card inquiries going
back six months. If you have six or 10 inquiries in that time period, you
could be considered high-risk—even if your score is good.
Inquiries that happened more than six months ago typically are not a concern,
since lenders figure you would have opened the account by now, and it would
show up on your credit report.
On the other hand, if you do open up several credit card accounts at about
the same time, you can be sure you’ll be throwing up some red flags.
Next: Inquiries That
Don't Hurt |
