Hello! Concerning multiple inquiries while car shopping: (1) Dealer pulled report, score dropped 3 points. (2) Credit union pulled report same day, score dropped 2 more points. (3) Local bank pulled report same day, score dropped ANOTHER 2 points. We were seeking the best deal and settled with the bank. As most know, one bank won't accept the report of another. Each must pull their own. My point is... we are told by numerous "sources" that multiple credit report inquiries won't continue to lower a score. This is to not punish those looking for a good deal. This experience proves them wrong. I would suspect the inquiries were not coded correctly so FICO would overlook them as a "shopping around" inquiry. Sucks! SK
You are correct. This is an example of the stupidity of the users (creditors) and the credit bureaus in not teaching the users to properly use their credit retrieval software to code responses..
You need to read thru the FCRA documents. For mortgages and car loans you are not supposed to be penalized for shopping around. I don't have time to look at it right now but I recall reading that up to three inquiries should count as one. I don't have a clue as to how a consumer could ensure that their files/scores do not penalize them or if FICO even programmed their software to allow for this. I will start shopping for a new car in the next 6 to 12 months so I'm very interested in anything you or anyone else here finds out on this subject.
Actually, it's the FICO scoring system that is supposed to count all of the inquiries within one month as one for MORTGAGE COMPANY inquiries only. I didn't hear auto loans included but it may very well be. Anyone else know?
Mist- You are right on the money! They aren't keying in the inquiry correct... (my theory). It's only a few points, and I got a good rate, but it's not right. I can go in and try for deletions, but I don't want a bogus "fraud alert" on my file. SK
Kristy- I did a quick check and found a couple articles: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/DrDon/20010328a.asp http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/012398/fb2kh.html Granted, they are probably not "official" positions, but it looks like FICO has said multiple inquiries in the same "category", within a timeframe, count only as one inquiry. SK
And... straight from FICO (at bottom): http://www.myfico.com/MyFICO/CreditCentral/FactsFallacies.htm Pretty wishy-washy, though. A lot of "most" and "typically" words there! SK
My experience - it certainly does lower your score. It is the time frame that is supposed to trigger the thingy that will see numerous inquiries as "one" for scoring purposes. The same is true for insurance inquiries. They are noted as "insurance" but they are also counted as an inquiry in scoring. I think either 1. the time factor only works when scoring for a mortgage report, or, 2. It is a misstatement purposely made because they don't want us to feel we can't shop around, it would impede commerce (which is one of the things the RICO statutes are about). So they just let us damage our credit score while we trust them to do what they say. After all, how are we going to prove anything? No one knows how FICO scoring works.
Breeze- I just imagined going into the bank and credit union and talking to the loan people. I imagined telling them they coded their inquiries wrong and caused FICO to see them as different types of loans, thus lowering my scores. I imagined helpful, concerned loan people going back in and coding them correctly. I imagined my FICO score going back up a few points. Then reality hit me! The loan person laughed at me, said they have no control over "FICO", and asked me to leave! SK
