please explain the difference to me between a hard vs a soft inquiry. For example when I applied for cc's and the institution checked my credit report was that hard or soft, and whats the difference?
apply for credit, insurance, etc = hard Account review, promo = soft there are different notations on the inquiries eg: AR is account review. PRM is promotional. they're trying to review you to see if they should send you an offer of credit companies checking your credit only see hard inquiries (you see them all). The CRAs are supposed to send you info w/your report explaining all the codes Only the hard ones "count" against your credit scores. That's why it's important to make sure they'll all yours and that they're coded properly. Now sometimes account reviews (that you request, normally) for a large increase will generate a hard inquiry. Ask them before they do it.
