I just recently got my credit score of 638 from transunion. I pay my bills on time for the last 3 years on time however, I notice that the hard hits is effecting my score.
Hi Edwin,
A soft hit is when you, or a creditor (looking to sell loans) pulls your credit history to see if you would make a good customer. These do not affect your report. A hard hit generally means a person has made a credit application for a loan. Have you been shopping for a new mortgage or looking at reducing your credit card interest rates? If so, and you have been submitting applications, this could be the source of the hard hits.
One or two inquiries usually won't impact your scores significantly. However, if you have been looking at refinancing, buying a new car, etc., having a number of creditors pull your credit(hard hit) in a short period of time can affect your score. The reasoning is it could signify a potential over extension of credit.
If you haven't been applying for any loans, then you need to see if someone has been doing so in your name. If you haven't done so, pull your credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the site sanctioned by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You are allowed a free report every 12 months. It will list not only your open accounts, closed accounts, payment histories, current and past residences, etc., it will also show the inquiries made. If you haven't been making applications and you see some on the report you will want to take action.
Thanks, The only loan was a car loan in 2010. In fact a couple of my credit cards the credit limit has been increase without my knowlwedge.
You're welcome. If you think this is something recent, then I would suggest obtaining your current credit reports.