A hard inquiry is a record that a company pulled your credit report because you applied for something, like a loan, credit card, or apartment. Other lenders can see hard inquiries, and scoring models may count recent ones against you. An inquiry you never authorized can be disputed.
Also called: hard pull, hard credit check, credit inquiry, regular inquiry
What it means
Every time someone gets your credit report, the bureau logs it as an inquiry. The nationwide bureaus sort inquiries into two buckets, hard and soft. The CFPB’s 2012 report on the credit reporting system describes hard inquiries as typically coming from things you start yourself, such as applying for a credit card, renting an apartment, or opening a deposit account.
The difference matters because of who sees them. According to the CFPB, hard inquiries show up when other companies buy your report, and most scoring models look at how recently and how often you apply for credit. Soft inquiries appear only on the copy you get yourself.
Where it comes from
The FCRA requires the bureau to tell you who got your report. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)(3), your file disclosure must identify each person who procured a report in the past year, or two years for employment. The CFPB notes that some bureaus keep credit inquiries on file for two years.
A company can only pull your report if it has a permissible purpose under § 1681b, such as a credit application you made.
Common errors
- A hard inquiry from a lender you never applied with, often a sign of identity theft.
- Multiple inquiries from a car dealer that “shopped” your application to lenders you didn’t know about. Whether that was authorized depends on what you signed.
- An inquiry tied to someone else’s application in a mixed file.
- An inquiry labeled as hard when it was really an account review or prescreen.
How to dispute it
First, confirm you did not apply. Check old emails, dealer paperwork, and apartment applications. If you didn’t authorize it, dispute the inquiry with the bureau that lists it and ask the company that pulled it what purpose it certified. If it came from identity theft, you can ask for an identity theft block. Our guide to removing hard inquiries walks through each step.
When it can be an FCRA violation
A legitimate hard inquiry is accurate and stays on the report. But a company that pulled your report without a permissible purpose may have violated § 1681b(f), and a bureau that ignores a valid dispute about an inquiry it can’t support may have its own problems under the FCRA.
If an inquiry you never authorized won’t come off, FCRA Attorneys offers a free case review, and you pay no fee unless we win.
Related
- Soft inquiry
- Permissible purpose
- File disclosure
- Identity theft block
- Consumer reporting agency
- How to Remove Hard Inquiries From Your Credit Report, and Which Ones You Can't
- How to Dispute Credit Report Errors With Equifax, Experian and TransUnion
- Identity theft cases
- Dispute letter builder
Sources
- CFPB, What is a credit inquiry?
- CFPB, Key Dimensions and Processes in the U.S. Credit Reporting System (2012)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681g, disclosures to consumers (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681b, permissible purposes of consumer reports (Cornell LII)
Updated November 2026. This glossary is written by FCRA Attorneys from public sources. It is general information, not legal advice, and is not affiliated with any credit bureau or industry association.