Soft Inquiry

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by charlieslex, Jun 11, 2002.

  1. charlieslex

    charlieslex Well-Known Member

    What exactly does someone get when they pull a soft inquiry? Charlie
     
  2. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    You get a soft inquiry on your credit report. This type of inquiry is not supposed to effect any credit score and only you can see it. These types on inquires are created when an existing account checks your credit, when a promotional offer is made, or when you check your own credit.
     
  3. charlieslex

    charlieslex Well-Known Member

    I understand what a soft inquiry is. My question i: What does a soft inquiry show different than a hard inquiry to the creditor? Does a soft just show score? I don't think so, because the AR andPRM's have to be given more than that. I'm sure a hard is the entire CR. Charlie
     
  4. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    Maybe I am misunderstanding the question but I think that a soft inquiry is only shown to you. The CRs always say that when you apply for credit no one sees them. As far as affecting scores, they shouldn't but this seems to be controversial. It would be unfair if they did affect your score b/c you have no control over acct reviews and those seem to be the majority of them.

    OR- you might be asking what does someone get when they pull your report using a soft inq.

    I am under the impression that they receive the same report as those pulling a hard if it is for AR. For the PRMs I don't know what they receive, it is supposed to be less info but enough to let them decide if they want to extend credit to you. Maybe you can get scores only if that is the company's preferred method when pulling a soft but I think that they can get a score only when pulling a hard too.

    For example, when I asked Macy's for a CL increase, they pulled a hard but the few seconds that the rep had me on hold probably wouldn't be enough time to review my report. My guess is that she looked at a score. Just a guess though...
     
  5. charlieslex

    charlieslex Well-Known Member

    I understand all of the differences between hard and soft in relation to scoring. What is shown to the creditor that pulls your credit report when they pull a soft inquiry? Does the CRA give the creditor a COMPLETE CR when pulling a soft? There has to be a difference in what the creditor sees when pulling either a soft or a hard inquiry? If not there wouldn't be a difference between the two. I'm not very good on putting down in writing what I'm thinking so thanks for bearing with me. Charlie
     
  6. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    I think that when a creditor pulls a soft they can see the entire report if they want to. I think this because sometimes a person's APR is made higher b/c of their performance on OTHER accts on their report. Say for example Discover does a soft AR and then ups your interest rate, even though you have a good record with them, then the info must be from looking at other accts on your report. The creditor probably can choose to look at only the score if they want to as well.

    My understanding is that the difference in the hard vs. soft is the way the company CODES the inq.
     
  7. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    I agree with MandyB. I misunderstood your original question.

    With credit card promotions for example, when you get a pre-approved credit card offer, chances are that the credit card company had a credit card bureau give a list of credit card users to the credit card company that fit certain criteria. This would have created a soft inquiry. If you apply for the card, the credit card company will pull your full credit report and create a hard inquiry. Even though you were pre-approved, you could be turned down for credit. This is supposed to be illegal but has happened. This is why you will rarely see anyone with a bankruptcy get a pre-approved credit card offer for a good card.

    One of the slick ways that credit card companies are getting around the law is to send out an offer that says up to $100,000 credit at as little as 0% for 6 months and as low as 9.99% interest after that. In reality, to get the $100,000 at 9.99% you need a Beacon score of 805 and an income greater than %75,000 a year.
     
  8. charlieslex

    charlieslex Well-Known Member

    OK But some creditors you ask if they will pull a soft and not a hard they say they can't. Why not? If they are getting the same report either way what does it matter to the creditor? Charlie
     
  9. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    That's a whole other question. When they say can't my personal opinion is won't. But I have herd of people disputing or threatening to sue and getting inquiries either removed entirely or turned from hard to soft.

    Is there a particular type of dispute you are thinking of?
     
  10. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    Yep. I agree with the "won't" not "can't" theory. It is possible that their software automatically codes inquiries as hard ones and that's their default setting.
     
  11. charlieslex

    charlieslex Well-Known Member

    I really don't have one in particular. I have just asked a creditor a couple of times to pull a soft and, they said that they have to pull a hard one. I just thought that there must be a difference in what they are seeing or what they are looking for isn't available as a soft inquiry. thanks Charlie
     
  12. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    Maybe I am too cynical but I believe that they just say that and it has nothing to do w/ what info they can receive through a soft. They just don't care how it affects your report. Just my opinion tho...
     
  13. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    I you are talking about an existing creditor of yours, they should not be creating hard inquiries. They can see your full credit report from creating a soft inquiry.

    In general, for an account that is already on your credit report, any inquiry that is created in reference to that existing account number, whether open or closed, must be a soft inquiry.
     
  14. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    Erik, can you PLEASE explain that to EX and TU for me? They don't seem to understand this concept. And the acct holders are not helpful either.
     
  15. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    I would hope that Inquiries from existing creditors are being reported correctly. On Trans Union and Experian soft inquires are reported in a separate section. On an Equifax report the following abbreviations represent credit report inquires that do not count against you on your Equifax credit report. These are also known as soft inquires:

    PRM (promotional)

    AM or AR (review of existing credit account)

    EQUIFAX, ACIS AND UPDATE (you are ether asking for a copy of you credit report or a investigation of an item).
     
  16. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    I was joking when I posted that b/c I have been arguing w/ EX and TU re some inqs on my rpts that are "hard" but the accts have been estabished since '99 and '91. They won't budge for me in removing them.
     
  17. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    Mandy

    So they are creating hard inquiries on existing accounts?
     
  18. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    Yes. Just one each for each acct. The other inqs. for the same accts are soft.
     
  19. erik776

    erik776 Well-Known Member

    Mandy

    Not to be nit-picky but when the account was created there should have been one hard inquiry. After that an existing account should never create a hard inquiry.

    I perhaps this why you have one hard inquiry for each account?
     
  20. MandyB

    MandyB Well-Known Member

    Back when the accts were opened in '99 and '91 there probably were hard inqs. Don't know about '91 for sure but when I saw a '00 rpt I had a zillion hards. These new hards are from this year on long established accts.
     

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